Karnataka RTC unions withdraw strike plan; set March 2 deadline for govt. to mee their demands

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Road Transport Corporation (RTC) workers’ unions, which had organised a ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ on Thursday pressing for the fulfilment of various long-pending demands, has temporarily withdrawn its strike plan after fresh assurances from the State government.

The unions have issued a March 2 deadline, warning that the agitation will resume if the government fails to implement the pay revision order in full and release the entire arrears due to employees.

On Wednesday, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy had announced that the State had agreed to release 26 months of salary arrears amounting to ₹1,271.92 crore to officers and employees of the four State-run transport corporations — Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation(NWKRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).

Despite this, transport employees maintained that their core demand remained pending. The unions are insisting that arrears for the entire 38-month period be cleared, instead of the 26 months proposed by the government.

As part of the negotiations, KSRTC managing director Akram Pasha visited the protest site at Freedom Park in Bengaluru and held discussions with the agitating workers. Following a final round of talks, the Joint Action Committee announced that the strike would be temporarily halted for now.

JAC convener Jayadevaraj Arasu said that the decision was taken in view of the government’s partial response and in the interest of the public.

“The Joint Action Committee has decided not to continue the strike from tomorrow. However, we have given the government a 10-day deadline until March 2. If our demands are not fully met by then, we will resume the agitation,” he said.

He further emphasised that all pending demands, including the complete implementation of the pay revision and full disbursal of arrears, must be addressed within the stipulated timeframe. “With the strike plan on hold for the moment, bus services will operate as usual from tomorrow,” he added.

However, not all employees at the protest site were in agreement with the decision. Some workers present at Freedom Park reportedly objected to the temporary withdrawal and urged union leaders to continue the strike until all demands were met unconditionally. But JAC leaders convinced them.

Bus operations normal

Meanwhile, RTC officials stated that the protest had little impact on bus services across the State on Thursday, with overall fleet utilisation exceeding 96%.

A total of 12,458 scheduled departures were planned across the four corporations. Of these, 11,987 services were operated, resulting in an overall operational rate of 96.22%.

Additionally, 663 extra services were deployed, taking the total number of operated services to 12,650. This pushed the effective operational percentage, including additional trips, to 101.54 as of 10 a.m. on the day of the protest.

KSRTC operated 3,806 out of its 4,177 scheduled departures, recording 91.12% operations. With 656 additional services run under ‘Jatra’ (temple fair) arrangements, its effective operational percentage rose to 106.82%.

BMTC recorded near-full operations, running 3,540 services against 3,532 scheduled departures, achieving 100.23% efficiency without deploying any additional services.

NWKRTC operated 2,250 of its 2,310 scheduled departures, registering 97.40% operations. With seven extra services operated to meet the jatra demand, its effective operation rate increased to 97.71%.

KKRTC reported operating 2,391 out of 2,439 scheduled departures, achieving 98.03% operations.

Commuters call for lasting solution

Commuters expressed relief over the development.

Pavan Kumar from Jayanagar, said, “There were no issues today. All buses operated as usual, and passengers did not face any inconvenience. However, I feel the government and the unions must resolve this issue permanently. Frequent protests create uncertainty, and ultimately it is commuters who suffer. The government should ensure that RTC employees receive their arrears on time. They are doing an essential public service.”

The current agitation follows earlier tensions between the unions and the government. In August 2025, the JAC announced an indefinite strike after talks with the government failed. The strike was later withdrawn following intervention by the Karnataka High Court.

The ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ protest was originally scheduled for January 29 but was postponed after veteran trade union leader H.V. Anantha Subba Rao, who was spearheading the agitation, passed away on January 28 following a cardiac arrest. The programme was subsequently rescheduled and held on February 19.

Published – February 19, 2026 09:03 pm IST