As the pending dispute with the Volvo drivers is yet to be heard in the High Court, the KSRTC has not been able to implement a new timetable for its drivers at the Ernakulam Zone.
According to the sources, the hearing was first posted for the second week of June. But, it was delayed because one of the concerned parties had not turned up. The case which was then postponed to June 27 was again moved to July 4.
“Hopefully, the case will be heard then and a new timetable will be immediately implemented after that,” said ATO K Venugopal.
According to the officials, a new timetable was fixed in May as per the newly implemented rules of the KSRTC. The rule states that the schedule of the drivers has to be revamped every six months and was passed in the hope of increasing revenues of the KSRTC.
“Whenever we prepare a new schedule, we give a lot of importance to the seniors and fix them their service route close to their homes. This will help prevent any inconvenience for the drivers and conductors who will also be able to come to work daily.
Hence, the problem of cancellation of services will be brought down. Also, too much of familiarity between the bus staff and the passengers could lead to further problems,” Venugopal added.
However, according to him, certain issues between the Volvo drivers led a few of them approach the High Court. “Three to four of the drivers approached the court stating that the newly revised timetable had not been prepared fairly. In their petition they have stated that they were the first ones who had received exclusive training to drive the Volvos but when the time-table was prepared their names were removed. The KSRTC has always given preference for seniority from the very beginning and that is why their names would have been removed. However, we are waiting for the court verdict to take a final decision,” another official with the KSRTC Ernakulam depot said.