The drivers will get Rs 900 per month as overtime allowance and the conductors will receive a monthly compensation of Rs 600 for the same Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 2: Operators of the city bus service have finally agreed to pay overtime allowances to drivers and conductors who work for more than eight hours. While the drivers will get Rs 900 per month as overtime allowance, the conductors will receive a monthly compensation of Rs 600 for the same.

Nishikanta Mishra, chief of the city bus service operator Dream Team Sahara, said: “After going through the demands of the staff, the board has decided to give overtime allowances. The company will bear an extra monthly burden of Rs 1.3 lakh on this account.”

The company has also announced a performance-based incentive scheme for its drivers and conductors. “While the drivers will get Rs 600 per month as incentive, the conductors will receive Rs 400. Their performance will be judged on the basis of the report of the depot manager,” Mishra added.

At present, the monthly salary of the drivers of 55-seater buses is Rs 6,000, while the 30-seater bus drivers get Rs 5,000. Similarly, conductors are paid a monthly salary of Rs 5,000. With the announcement of this performance-based incentive scheme, if a driver works overtime and remains punctual to his work, he will be able to earn another Rs 1,500 every month.

Their performance will be evaluated on the basis of a chart-report prepared by the depot manager. The depot manager will be given a chart by the management, which will carry information on the drivers’ reporting to duty and conduct. “The management will go through the performance report for releasing the incentives,” Mishra said.

Earlier, the drivers alleged that Dream Team Sahara, which engaged them with eight hours’ duty schedule, had forced to work them for 13 hours. The city bus service was badly hit with a large numbers of drivers and the conductors not reporting for duty for two days in mid-April. Out of 70 buses, nearly 30 had stopped plying. The company had even lodged a complaint with the government stating a few errant drivers were trying to disrupt the service at the behest of some unruly elements.

Mishra said: “We have taken disciplinary action against seven staff and terminated services of two drivers for indiscipline.”

The city bus service was launched in the capital on October 10 last year. The buses were procured by the state government with funding from the central government’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Later, the state-owned Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) signed an agreement with Dream Team Sahara, a local transport operator, to run the bus service in Bhubaneswar and Puri.