New Delhi: From the financial year 2011-12 to 2021-22, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) included only two buses in the national capital, where millions of passengers depend on public transporters, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
After this, the corporation added another 298 buses during the period between March and November 2022, CAG said in the demonstration audit on the ‘functioning of Delhi Transport Corporation’, covering the period from 2015-16 to 2021-22.
In contrast, the bus fleet shrunk from 4,344 (2015-16) to 3,937 buses (2022-23).
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“Audit noticed that Rs 236.82 crore was available for the purchase of buses in 2015 and Rs 233.06 crore was available for this purpose by March 2022. The corporation failed to include new buses (in March 2022, except two electric buses and 298 buses in March 2022, in the last bus on 2022 November, except two electric buses and 298 buses.
According to the report reported on Monday in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, this shortage occurred despite the availability of funds for the purchase of buses.
The report said that in September 2007, the Delhi High Court directed the Delhi government to extend the city bus fleet to 11,000 buses by the end of March 2009. The Delhi government then decided to come up with a new scheme, under which DTC and Delhi Integrated Multi-Model Transit System (DIMT), which operates cluster buses, was to operate 5,500 buses in each.
Instead, CAG found that 7,001 buses (3,762 DTC buses and 3,239 DIMTS Buses) were available in Delhi on 31 March 2022.
The CAG recommended that DTC needs to “accelerate the availability of the prescribed number of roadable buses” to operate with the AMC (annual maintenance contract) contractors.
The report, which was not done by the AAM AADMI party (AAP) during its tenure, highlighted the lack of planning, poor financial management, and the increasing fare among others, causing financial losses. DTC’s financial liability increased from Rs 28,263 crore in FY 2016 to Rs 65,274.3 crore in FY 222.
The AAP first formed a government in Delhi with the help of Congress in December 2013, but it was for a brief period of 49 days. It automatically came to power in 2015 and won again in 2020. The party, however, lost power in elections held in February this year.
In January 2022, the then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged off the first Electric bus of DTC at the depot of Indraprastha. Between 2021 and 2023, CAG found, DTC only purchased 300 E-Basis.
Aging buses, delay in purchase
The DTC had “a fleet of only 3,937 buses”, which included 1,770 overseas buses by 31 March 2023, mentioned in the report. CNG buses of low floor were being operated by DTC beyond the prescribed “12 -year useful life”.
“During the 2018-23, the number of oversees in the corporation’s fleet increased from 0.13 percent (five buses in 2018-19) to 44.96 percent (1,770 buses in 2022-23),” it is responsible for the delay in purchase of new buses.
The DTC board approved nine proposals for the purchase of buses during the period from 2013 to 2021. ,
The CAG also stated that there is a delay in finalizing the dialects for the purchase of electric buses under the rapid adoption of the Center and the construction of electric vehicles (FAME) I and II schemes.
The report said, “The corporation lost an opportunity to get a central assistance of ₹ 49 crore under the Fame-I scheme due to lack of clarity about the specification of buses and indecision.” “The purchase of buses was delayed with a decrease in the contract period from 12 years to 10 years due to delay in finalizing dialects for 300 electric buses under Fame-II scheme …”
Operational efficiency affected
The aging fleet adversely affected DTC’s operational efficiency. While contractors were expected to ensure 92 percent availability of buses on roads, the use of DTC fleet was 85.27 percent in 2021-22.
According to the Audit Watchdog, the use of fleet was mainly affected to break up mainly due to oversees buses. “Breakdown was between 2.90 and 4.57 per 10,000 km of operation, which was much higher than other state transport undertakings (STUS) and cluster buses (by DIMTS),” it said.
In contrast, in 2021–22, the fleet use of cluster buses was 99.01 percent. The report said, “The performance of cluster buses was much better than the corporation in almost every operating parameters, even though both were performing in equal conditions.”
Accumulated loss up to Rs 35,000 crore
Despite financial assistance from the Delhi government, the accumulated loss of DTC increased by more than Rs 35,000 crore in only 6 years, which increased from Rs 25,299.87 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 60,741.03 crore in 2021-22 in 2021-22.
“The duration of financial health (2015-16 to 2021-22) deteriorated. The corporation spent heavy operations and manpower which was not less with the revenue earned, resulting in loss of loss, low solvency ratio and negative net values. The operating revenue collection had a low trend due to non-revolted and lower commuter base.”
The auditor highlighted the lack of both short and long -term schemes for bus routes, scheduled visits and annual operating goals.
“However, it has neither determined the goals of operational and financial parameters to achieve any formal statement of its goals nor goals to any commercial plan, nor a perspective plan … In the absence of a proper plan, the corporation’s efforts to achieve its compulsory objectives were directed and infinite,” the CAG report said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)