COIMBATORE: In a bid to streamline payroll processing and prevent malpractices, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has decided to enforce from this month the use of a biometric attendance system that was rolled out three years ago.
The software-based tool that can easily track the presence and working hours of employees will cover 83,000 employees, including drivers and conductors of the public transporter, in all its 260 branches.
“Based on the salary cycle, the biometric attendance system has been mandated in all the TNSTC branches starting from June 21. At present, the biometric attendance system is in use in MTC Chennai,” sources added.
A biometric attendance system introduced in all the six TNSTC corporations three years ago was not implemented properly in most of the branches, say sources.
Now, only a few employees use the biometric system, while others use the manual register for attendance.
A top officer from TNSTC has now directed the heads of all corporations to ensure the compulsory functioning of the biometric attendance system in the branches. They were also instructed to send biometric attendance details daily from the regional corporations to the Transport Secretary at the Secretariat.
The TNSTC branches have been instructed to submit employee biometric attendance details to the headquarters.
Consequently, conductors, drivers, technical staff, office staff, and officers in the branches will register their attendance using biometric equipment. Furthermore, officers have warned that if employees fail to register their attendance in the biometric, they allegedly might lose their salaries for those specific days.
Recently, TNSTC Coimbatore region held a meeting to discuss the implementation of biometric attendance at branches and issued a circular urging all branches to comply.
A branch manager in Coimbatore told TNIE that 220 employees are based at his branch. He has instructed them to register their attendance biometrically starting Saturday as per instruction of the authorities, and all necessary arrangements are complete.
“Some employees and union leaders who are close to top officers do not come to work regularly. When they do show up, they sign a manual register to cover their absence. So, TNSTC has mandated the biometric system,” he said.
A conductor from Tiruppur said they have been instructed to register their attendance daily when they take the bus out of the depot and when they bring it back in.