As per Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)’s official website, DTC has deployed about 3106 CNG buses for the city/NCR service. The DTC buses ply on roughly 773 routes on Delhi Roads. The bus fares for adults as under:-
Ordinary Service:
Up to 4 Kms. Rs.5/-
4 – 10 Kms. Rs.10/-
10 onwards Rs.15/-
Low Floor AC Buses:
Up to 4 Kms. Rs. 10/-
4 – 8 Kms. Rs. 15/-
8 – 12 Kms. Rs. 20/
12 & above kms. Rs. 25/-
There are some special services that DTC provides which charge a little more for instance, Palam coach charges a flat Rs.50/Adult.
Now, let’s assume that you are a daily commuter and your daily pilgrimage to your workplace is accomplished by state transport buses. How would you pay for the fares? Cash of course (in some cases monthly passes). And what will be the most preferred denominations in which you can make the payments? 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 at max? Because Bus Conductors are notorious for not carrying change for the cash and they don’t appreciate passengers with higher denomination notes. So, normally most of the commuters will pay the fares in lower denomination notes which technically means that DTC receives most of its transport fares in lower denomination notes.
But, what if DTC deposits Rs 3 crore revenue, most of it in old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes? Sounds fishy right?
That’s what Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyaya thinks too. In a letter to Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, Satish Upadhyaya asks as to how DTC can submit its income in now-defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes when the fares in public buses, as explained above range from Rs 5 to Rs 25. Also the bus conductors almost never have enough cash for change. So a large number of 500 and 1000 notes naturally raise suspicion.
The letter further adds that the revenue deposited by DTC is mostly in banned currency notes and hence it raises reasonable doubts of possible unfairness and the revenue “may be” connected with the donations received by Arvind Kejriwal led Aam Aadmi Party.
Satish Upadhyay has explicitly asked LG Jung to seek information from the DTC management about the submission of revenues in old notes.
Arvind Kejriwal has been one of the most vocal critics of the Modi’s demonetization move. He went on to call demonetization – Independent India’s biggest scam ever. He also mentioned that the money deposited by common people in banks will be used to write off loans worth Rs. 8 lakh crore for his corporate friends.
However the DTC Revenues episode adds an entirely new angle to the commotion around demonetization and Kejriwal’s vehement opposition to it. If proved, this might prove as the final nail in the coffin of Arvind Kejriwal. Although people don’t expect anything from him anymore but a direct link in a corruption scandal will be the deathblow to this once-anti-corruption-mascot-of-India.