Mumbai, Apr 11 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will launch an application for passengers to track the location of buses in a month, state Minister Pratap Sarnaik said on Friday.

Talking to PTI after assuming charge as the MSRTC chairman at the transport body’s headquarters here, Sarnaik warned of strict action against the contractor who has failed to install GPS in 3,000 out of 15,000 buses in the transport body’s fleet.

The state government appointed Sarnaik as the 26th chairman of the MSRTC, replacing IAS officer and transport secretary Sanjay Sethi, who was given the chairmanship of the corporation in February this year.

According to MSRTC officials, the state government had given a private company contract to install GPS in its buses in its fleet before the COVID-19 pandemic and to create an application to enable passengers to track buses.

In August 2019, the then state transport minister Diwakar Raote launched the application, which the company was supposed to make available to the public within six months.

Sarnaik said the contract given to the private company is still live, and around 12,000 buses have been fitted with GPS.

The minister said he has directed officials to ensure that GPS is installed in all the buses in two months, and if they fail to do so, stern action will be taken against the company.

“The application (live tracking) will be launched in a month, while all the buses will be fitted with GPS in the next two months,” Sarnaik said.

About the delay in supplying electric buses to the public transport body, he said the corporation had served a notice to the company, EveyTrans, a subsidiary of Olectra Greentech, regarding the issue.

He said the new buses will be equipped with GPS and CCTV. In light of the rape at Swargate depot in Pune recently, the minister earlier announced the installation of CCTVs and a panic button on all MSRTC buses.

Sarnaik further said the corporation will induct 2,640 new buses into its fleet, and of these, more than 800 buses are already operational.

He also assured that MSRTC employees would get their salaries on the seventh day of every month and termed the delays in salary disbursement as unfortunate.

The minister also met the state finance secretary to resolve the matter of pending salaries of MSRTC employees and sought Rs 1,076 in dues, following which the state government released Rs 120 crore and issued a government resolution.

The MSRTC is one of the largest transport bodies in the country, with a fleet of around 15,000 buses. The loss-making public transport body ferries around 60 lakh passengers daily. PTI KK ARU