NEW DELHI: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has seen its liabilities more than double between 2015-16 and 2021-22 under the AAP government, according to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report accessed by this newspaper.
The report reveals that DTC’s total liability—comprising equity capital, electric bus subsidies, and government loan interest—jumped from Rs 28,263 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 65,274.31 crore in 2021-22.
Despite this massive financial injection, the Corporation continued to operate at a loss, raising concerns over mismanagement and inefficiencies. As of March 2022, DTC managed a fleet of 3,762 buses across 36 depots, ferrying 15.62 lakh passengers daily.
However, the audit flagged a declining fleet strength, with the number of buses shrinking from 4,344 in 2015-16 to 3,937 by March 2023. While the Corporation procured 300 electric buses between 2021 and 2023, the process was delayed, and a penalty of Rs 29.86 crore for late delivery was never imposed on operators.
“During the period 2015-23, fleet of the Corporation reduced from 4,344 (2015-16) to 3,937 buses (2022-23). The Corporation could procure only 300 Electric buses (EBs) during 2021-22 and 2022-23 despite availability of funds from GNCTD. There was delay in addition of EBs in the fleet for which penalty amounting to Rs 29.86 crore for delayed delivery was not imposed on the operators,” an excerpt from the report read.
The number of low floor “overaged buses” in the Corporation during 2015-22 increased from 0.13 per cent (five buses) to 17.44 per cent (656 buses) which further increased to 44.96 per cent (1,770 buses) as of March 2023 of its total fleet.
DTC lacked a Business Plan or Perspective Plan to guide its operations. No Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed with the Delhi government to set financial and operational benchmarks, making it difficult to contain losses.
Key points
CCTV systems were installed in 3,697 buses in 2021 at a cost of `52.45 crore, but without a proper user acceptance test, they remained non-operational as of May 2023.
Cluster buses outperformed DTC in most operational metrics, except revenue per km, raising concerns about DTC’s efficiency.