RTC unions opposes GCC model for e-bus operations, set to intensify stir
Andhra Pradesh transport unions are protesting the government's decision to use the Gross Cost Contract model for electric buses, fearing it will lead to the privatization of the state-run transport corporation. They are demanding direct government control and increased recruitment.
Why it matters
The tension between public sector labor unions and privatization efforts is a recurring theme in Indian public transport policy.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Andhra Pradesh Public Transport Department (APPTD-APSRTC) Employees’ Unions has strongly opposed the operation of electric buses through private operators under the Gross Cost Contract (GCC) model.
At a regional executive meeting held on Tuesday at the National Mazdoor Union (NMU) office in Rammohan Bhavan, near Maddilapalem bus depot here, the JAC warned that handing over operations to private entities is a stepping stone to the phased privatisation of the state-run transport corporation.
Addressing the gathering, JAC state conveners Y. Srinivasa Rao and Palisetti Damodara Rao expressed concern that operating electric buses via private agencies under the GCC system would completely shift the State’s emerging electric public transport network into private hands by 2029.
“This would lead to the gradual privatisation of the APSRTC by 2030,” they said.
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