NEW DELHI: During the budget session, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta presented the report on the performance of the DTC for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2022.
The report revealed that the public transportation company had failed to develop a Business Plan or Perspective Plan, or establish any Memorandum of Understanding with the state government to define physical and financial objectives to reduce operational losses.
Furthermore, the DTC had not set any benchmarks to evaluate its performance compared to other state transport entities.
Reaffirming the commitment to transparent governance, Hon'ble Chief Minister Smt. Rekha Gupta presented the CAG report on the Delhi Transport Corporation in the House today.
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) March 24, 2025
Link: https://t.co/hzh86icNfC#PeopleFirst pic.twitter.com/vLcFMcTund
Despite continuous financial losses, the DTC did not conduct any studies on profitability or sustainability, as noted in the report.
Between 2015 and 2023, the DTC’s bus fleet decreased from 4,344 to 3,937 buses. Only 300 electric buses were acquired during 2021-22 and 2022-23, despite government funding being available.
DTC में वर्षों से चली आ रही भारी अनियमितताओं, घोटालों और गैर-जिम्मेदार रवैये ने न केवल DTC को बल्कि राजस्व को भी भारी नुकसान पहुंचाया।
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) March 24, 2025
मुख्यमंत्री श्रीमती @gupta_rekha के नेतृत्व में सरकार DTC में सुधार और जनता को बेहतर परिवहन सुविधा देने के लिए कार्यरत है।#CAGReport pic.twitter.com/9Xzksq5I36
The report highlighted delays in adding electric buses to the fleet, with no penalties imposed on operators for late deliveries amounting to ₹29.86 crore.
Regarding the aging fleet, the report indicated that the percentage of overage low-floor buses in the DTC increased from 0.13% in 2015 to 44.96% by March 31, 2023.
The report warned that the proportion of overage buses would continue to rise if the DTC did not take proactive measures to acquire new buses.
The operational efficiency of the DTC in terms of fleet utilization and vehicle productivity was below the national average.
DTC में वर्षों से चली आ रही भारी अनियमितताओं, घोटालों और गैर-जिम्मेदार रवैये ने न केवल DTC को बल्कि राजस्व को भी भारी नुकसान पहुंचाया।
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) March 24, 2025
मुख्यमंत्री श्रीमती @gupta_rekha के नेतृत्व में सरकार DTC में सुधार और जनता को बेहतर परिवहन सुविधा देने के लिए कार्यरत है।#CAGReport pic.twitter.com/9Xzksq5I36
Fleet utilization ranged from 76.95% to 85.84%, and vehicle productivity per day per bus ranged from 180 km to 201 km, falling short of the target of 189 to 200 km per bus per day during 2015-22 due to frequent breakdowns and the presence of 656 overaged buses.
As of March 31, 2022, the transporter was running on 468 out of 814 routes, but unfortunately, it was unable to cover its operational costs on any of these routes. This resulted in a significant operational loss of ₹14,198.86 crore between 2015 and 2022.
During this period, the buses on these routes missed scheduled kilometers by 7.06% to 16.59%, and experienced breakdowns ranging from 2.90 to 4.57 per 10,000 km of operations. These issues led to a loss of ₹668.60 crore in potential revenue.
The report also identified several projects that were not functioning as intended. For example, the Automatic Fare Collection System Phase-I, which was launched in December 2017, has been non-operational since May 2020 due to issues with the system integrator.
Similarly, the CCTV System was installed in 3,697 buses in March 2021, but as of May 2023, it had not been fully operational despite a payment of ₹52.45 crore to the contractor.
Interestingly, the performance of Cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) outshone that of the corporation buses in almost every operational aspect, except for operational revenue per km. This was surprising given that both types of buses were operating in the same city under similar circumstances.
