Delhi Bars DTC and Cluster Bus Strikes for Six Months Under ESMA

The Delhi government has prohibited strikes and agitations linked to Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Cluster bus services for six months, invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) through an official notification. The order covers regular employees as well as contractual, outsourced and private-concessionaire staff, and a senior government official confirmed it will stay in force for the full period.

The notification cited repeated disruption of bus services and the resulting inconvenience and hardship to the public as grounds for invoking the provision in the public interest. DTC and Cluster bus services have been declared essential transport services.

The move follows a drivers' strike that began on September 16, when contractual drivers employed through private agencies stopped work to demand higher wages along with medical and social security benefits. The agitation had disrupted bus services across the capital for nearly two weeks, leaving commuters to cope with a reduced fleet.

Manoj Sharma, general secretary of the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union, said the strike had lost momentum after the notification, though none of the drivers' demands had been accepted. The union is now working out its next course of action.

Union representatives said contractual drivers earn considerably less than permanent DTC employees, receiving Rs 747 per day against a demand for at least Rs 2,000 daily. The shortage also hit private concessionaires operating DTC buses. To keep services running, DTC deployed around 300 of its own drivers with these operators, reassigning some who had been on non-driving duties such as assisting the Transport Department with pollution checks or handling official work at depots.

Delhi's public transport fleet stands at around 6,600 buses, including nearly 4,900 electric buses and about 1,750 CNG buses operated under DTC.