The minister has expressed concern that more accidents are occurring with EV buses than with diesel buses
BENGALURU
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has written to Union Heavy Industries Minister HD Kumaraswamy, urging him to review the performance of companies operating electric buses under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model, citing “safety lapses” and “poor service standards” in Bengaluru’s e-mobility network.
Ramalinga Reddy expressed concern over the performance of GCC companies operating under schemes like CESL (Convergence Energy Services Limited) under the FAME II (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India) scheme, Smart City scheme and Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment for 2023-24.
Under the central government’s ‘FAME’ scheme, BMTC has acquired about 1,700 EV buses. According to this agreement, the supplier company will be responsible for the maintenance and drivers of the buses. The transport corporation will only provide the operators and pay a fixed amount per kilometer. However, the transport minister has alleged that these companies are not properly following the terms of the agreement.
The department is being perceived badly in the public sector due to the poor maintenance of EV buses. In this context, I have written to the Union Minister to intervene to ensure safety measures for the buses and make the supplier companies abide by the agreement, and I will meet him personally soon to discuss it, Ramalinga Reddy said.
The minister accused the supplier companies of failing to address critical issues such as a lack of structured driver training, poor maintenance, frequent cancellations, breakdowns, battery-related issues and insufficient preparedness, leading to an increase in accidents and repeated sudden strikes.
Expressing concern that EV buses are causing more accidents than diesel buses, the minister said that more than 100 brake failure cases have been recorded this year alone and 700 battery-related problems have been reported in the last seven months, bringing the total number of battery accidents this year to more than 1,700.
‘Bad name to BMTC’
Contrary to the proposed requirement of at least 2.3 staff per bus, the companies, as a cost-cutting measure, are deploying only 1.9 to 2.0 staff per bus. This is giving a bad name to BMTC. It has tarnished the image of Bengaluru as a progressive metropolis, the Minister said.
