1/8 of Delhi Transport Corporation’s fleet set to go off roads
This is the largest number of buses to be phased out from the DTC’s fleet in a single financial year
Nearly an eighth of the Delhi Transport Corporation’s (DTC) bus fleet is set to be phased out from the streets of the Capital over the course of the financial year 2023-24, officials aware of the matter said on Saturday. They added that commuters would not face any problems as these vehicles will be replaced by electric buses.
DTC is the largest public transport entity in the National Capital Region (NCR), with a fleet strength of 3,920 buses — 3,620 low-floor CNG buses, and 300 electric buses — as on May 9, according to data shared by the transport operator. However, 517 of these buses are completing 15 years of operation in 2023-24 and will be unfit to ply as per government rules, and are scheduled to be phased out over the course of the current fiscal.
This is the largest number of buses to be phased out from the DTC’s fleet in a single financial year. Before this, the most buses removed from the fleet was in 2022-23, when 123 buses were taken off the streets.
No vehicle which is 15 years old can operate on the roads of the national capital, according to orders issued by the National Green Tribunal (2015) and the Supreme Court (2018). For diesel vehicles, this time period is cut down to 10 years only. The government calls such vehicles “end-of-Iife” vehicles, and driving them in Delhi is illegal. The aim behind these rules is to cut down on the number of vehicles on the city’s roads with dated emission standards.
Phasing out of DTC buses is an annual affair. However, a large number of buses was inducted into the DTC fleet in 2008 and 2009, ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games which Delhi hosted. Thus, in 2023-24, 517 buses will be phased out, and in 2024-25, around 1,000 buses will be taken off the streets.
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the Delhi government is scheduled to induct 1,500 electric buses in 2023, which will replace the buses which are being phased out.
“Under the leadership of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government has inducted 300 electric buses so far, and the stage is set for the induction of 1,500 buses this year. The new buses will replace the buses which are going off the streets. For the biggest induction of e-buses in Delhi, the work order for 3,980 electric buses induction will be issued soon. The 3,980 buses will be added to the state-run transport services over the next two years,” Gahlot said.
A DTC official said commuters will not experience any sudden drop in the number of buses plying on the Capital’s streets. “The planned phase-out will not lead to any significant reduction in the availability of buses on the roads,” the official said.
A Delhi government official said that the buses which are phased out not only go out of the streets but are scrapped. “The details of the phased-out buses are shared with MSTC Limited, a central public sector undertaking under the ministry of steel, which auctions the buses. Only registered vehicle scrappers are allowed to participate in the auction and the lowest bidders are given the vehicles for scrapping,” said the official.
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