Ever since electrical buses have been launched to the fleet of Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Company (BMTC) beneath the Gross Price Contract (GCC) mannequin in 2023, the transport physique has been plagued with a number of complaints towards personal operators working these buses.
Developments comparable to accidents allegedly brought on by inadequately educated electrical bus drivers to breakdowns in the midst of the highway, the state authorities contends, are tarnishing the picture of the general public service supplier. So as to add to the woes, the Centre has introduced 4,500 extra buses to BMTC beneath the identical mannequin, elevating considerations.
What are the complaints towards buses sanctioned beneath GCC?
A 20-fold enhance—2,037 per cent—in breakdowns of electrical buses as a consequence of battery efficiency within the first six months of 2025-26, in comparison with 2024-25, has set off alarm bells on the BMTC over the standard of buses being operated. In accordance with BMTC knowledge, between April and September this yr, there have been 13,326 breakdowns as a consequence of battery efficiency, whereas your complete 2024-25 fiscal noticed simply 654.
A complete of 1,652 electrical buses are being operated by 4 GCC operators beneath BMTC.
One of the vital notable electrical bus breakdowns occurred on October 14 close to RMZ Ecospace Tech Park, which triggered a visitors jam on the busy Outer Ring Street for greater than two hours. In distinction, BMTC’s 5,423 independently operated diesel buses solely reported 17 breakdowns between April and September this yr. In 2024-25, the entire variety of breakdowns was 68.
The variety of accidents brought on by the electrical buses has additionally surged, and is being attributed to drivers who lack structured and rigorous driver coaching. Knowledge exhibits that six accidents befell in 2023-24 (through the early phases of inducting electrical buses), of which three have been deadly. The following yr, in 2024-25, the quantity grew to 29 accidents with 11 fatalities. Indicators are that the accident numbers might surge greater than two-fold in 2025-26, as 35 accidents—of which 10 have been deadly—have already been reported within the first six months of this fiscal.
Drunk and rash driving is one other concern, with 626 complaints being registered towards electrical bus drivers. Other than this, 15 strikes by drivers of those buses since February final yr, over causes comparable to wage and Deepavali bonus, have additionally triggered monetary loss to the BMTC.
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“All these are BMTC-branded buses. Such incidents trigger a mistaken notion about BMTC among the many folks,” Ramalinga Reddy, Transport Minister, mentioned.
What’s the GCC mannequin? Who operates these buses?
Within the mannequin being applied beneath central schemes comparable to Quicker Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electrical Autos in India – Section II and Good Metropolis Venture, personal corporations present electrical buses to BMTC. The transport physique supplies personal operators a set value for working the buses and conductors, whereas the personal operators are answerable for offering the buses, drivers and upkeep of the autos.
At present, 4 corporations are answerable for the 1,652 electrical buses included within the BMTC fleet—NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam (90 buses), Swap Mobility Automotive Restricted (300 buses), TML Good Metropolis Mobility Options (1,031 buses) and OHM World Mobility Personal Restricted (251 buses). Whereas an settlement for buses was signed in 2021, the electrical buses began hitting the roads in January 2023. The businesses will run the buses for 12 years.
How is BMTC tackling the issue?
Other than levying fines on these operators over lack of effectivity, minister Reddy has written to the Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Metal, H D Kumaraswamy, to “provoke a efficiency evaluation of all GCC operators”, introduce clauses in tender paperwork “mandating complete and authorized driver coaching protocols” and to “institute a compliance monitoring mechanism” to make sure adherence to security and repair benchmarks. By bringing these flaws to the eye of the Union authorities, “we try to make it possible for buses sanctioned to BMTC sooner or later won’t have the identical drawback,” he mentioned.
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Sivakumar Okay B, Managing Director, BMTC, mentioned {that a} assembly was held lately with the operators. “They’ve agreed to improve batteries in a sure variety of buses… We’re additionally monitoring new batteries of those buses,” he mentioned, including that an additional penalty will likely be levied if sudden strikes trigger losses to BMTC as a consequence of journey cancellations. “Operational effectivity of the batteries used within the buses ought to have diminished after 4 years of use. However the effectivity has fallen rapidly, lowering the variety of kilometres travelled by these buses day by day,” he added.