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Delhi Invokes ESMA to Halt DTC Bus Strike for Six Months

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Delhi has banned strikes on DTC and Cluster bus services for six months under ESMA, easing a driver walkout that began September 16 over pay.

The Delhi government has banned strikes and protests tied to Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster bus services for six months, easing a driver walkout that had cut bus operations across the capital since September 16. The order gives some respite to passengers who struggled with thinned-out services for close to two weeks.

To impose the ban, the government invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), classifying DTC and Cluster buses as essential transport through an official notification. A senior official said the restriction will stay in place for six months. The notification pointed to the repeated breakdown in bus services and the hardship caused to the public as grounds for acting in the public interest.

The walkout began on September 16 when drivers hired through private agencies for DTC stopped work, pressing for better pay and social security cover. Union representatives said contractual drivers earn far less than permanent DTC staff. According to them, these drivers are paid Rs 747 a day, while the union is seeking a minimum daily wage of Rs 2,000.

Manoj Sharma, general secretary of the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union, said the protest had weakened after the notification, but none of the drivers' demands had been met. He said the union is now working out its next steps. The drivers maintain that their central asks - higher wages along with medical and social security benefits - remain unresolved.

The stoppage also hit private concessionaires that run DTC buses, with union members reporting a driver shortage during the strike. To keep buses on the road, DTC sent about 300 of its own drivers to work with the private operators.

Many of those drivers had earlier been placed on non-driving assignments at various sites. Some had been helping the Transport Department with pollution checks, while others handled office work at DTC depots. As the concessionaires ran short of staff, these drivers were pulled off those tasks and put behind the wheel, union members said.

The ban applies broadly, covering permanent employees as well as contractual and outsourced workers and staff hired by private concessionaires. All are now barred from striking or joining agitations linked to the two bus services.

Delhi's public bus network runs a fleet of roughly 6,600 vehicles. That total includes close to 4,900 electric buses and about 1,750 CNG buses operated under DTC.

DTC bus strike, Delhi bus services, ESMA Delhi, DTC drivers wages, Cluster buses Delhi, Essential Services Maintenance Act, DTC Karamchari Ekta Union, Delhi transport

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