BHUBANESWAR: City bus service was partially hampered in the state capital on Tuesday as around 40 Ama Buses remained off road till the afternoon following protest by a section of the crew over alleged non-refund of their security deposits by a previous revenue collection agency.
Around 50 Ama Bus staff staged an agitation at the Gadakana depot over the issue. The staff said that the revenue collection agency which works with the Comprehensive Region Urban Transport (CRUT), collects around Rs 10,000 from them, which is refundable after completion of the engagement and exit formalities.
They, however, claimed that despite switching to another revenue collecting agency from the last few months, their security deposits were yet to be refunded. The workers sought CRUT’s intervention in the matter, even as the strike continued till 1 pm. As a result, Ama Bus service was affected along dozens of routes in the state capital, causing severe inconvenience to the passengers.
CRUT later clarified that the previous revenue collection agency was L&K Services. “After transfer of services from L&K Services to another agency at Gadakana depot in January this year, the guides also switched service to the new agency. However, their security money, deposited without any involvement of CRUT, is yet to be refunded,” it said.
Officials said after CRUT’s intervention, the agency initiated the refund to around 45 staff. However, in view of the alleged inconvenience caused to thousands of commuters who depend on Ama Bus services for their daily travel, CRUT said it would look into the matter and initiate appropriate action against the revenue collection agency concerned for failing to clear the dues, in accordance with applicable rules.
“We will now issue a standard operating procedure (SOP) to the agencies on recruitment, to ensure that no staff faces any inconvenience and no such protest recurs, hampering Ama Bus service,” said an official from CRUT.