Poor publicity, lack of follow-up kills MTC’s money spinner scheme

As per the chartered trip initiative, public can use MTC buses for private functions and other meetings in and around city by paying a sum as rent. The scheme was provided within Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) limit. 

Natarajan, secretary, Labour Progressive Federation (MTC), said that the MTC received a tremendous response to the chartered trip scheme initially. “The revenue through the scheme was good at that time and the transport corporation received orders for nearly eight to 10 trips per day. As years passed, officials neither took steps to sustain the response nor made adequate publicity for the scheme. This ultimately, resulted in fall in revenue through the scheme. As of now, not a single trip is being booked and there is no separate wing to monitor the progress of the initiative like in the past,” he said and added that it was not late even now. “If the management creates awareness, this public-friendly scheme could be revived.” 

When the scheme was at its peak, several educational institutions and IT companies made good use of it. However, such institutions later got their own vehicles. 

Daniel Robinson, Programme Manager, Chennai City Connect, differed from Natrajan and attributed the poor response to the chartered trip scheme to the increase in number of own vehicles in companies, colleges, schools and households in the city. When contacted, V Krishnamurthy, Managing Director, MTC, said, “The transport corporation is making efforts to revive the chartered trip scheme. We are studying the factors of how to improve the scheme and how to publicise it among the public.”