No more assurances; fix the contact system immediately – Surajya Abhiyan

Mumbai – A large number of the depot and bus station contact numbers listed on the official website of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) for passengers to obtain information are either switched off or non-responsive. To draw the administration’s attention to this serious problem faced by passengers, press conferences were organised on 13 March 2026 in Satara, Sangli, Jalgaon, Sindhudurg and Akola. On this occasion, Surajya Abhiyan exposed the failure and lax functioning of the ST administration.

In addition to these five locations, complaint letters were once again submitted through divisional controllers in Nashik, Pune, Solapur, Mumbai, Kolhapur and other parts of the State to the Honourable Transport Minister and Chairman (MSRTC), Shri. Pratap Sarnaik, demanding that passengers’ problems be resolved immediately.

Why is the administration indifferent to passengers’ problems even after persistent follow-ups?

Most of the official contact numbers listed on the State Transport website frequently out of order or are unanswered when passengers call. Surajya Abhiyan carried out direct verification and has been persistently pursuing this matter. However, despite these repeated attempts, the situation at the depot and bus station level remains unchanged.

• 16 December 2025: The first letter was sent via email to the Honourable Transport Minister, Chairman of MSRTC and the Transport Commissioner.
• 17 December 2025: Following this, the General Manager (Traffic) issued immediate instructions via email to 31 divisional controllers to improve the situation.
• December 2025: Memorandums on this issue were directly submitted to various bus station and depot managers as well as divisional controllers across the State.
• 20 February 2026: Surajya Abhiyan sent a reminder email requesting information about the action taken and asked that the department as well as the applicant be informed accordingly.

Shocking findings from verification of contact numbers

The figures revealed through direct verification by Surajya Abhiyan are alarming for passengers:

• Total contact numbers of bus stations and depots checked: 413
• Active numbers / calls answered: 117 (only 28%)
• Numbers switched off or unanswered: 296 (72%)
• Under the ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Clean and Beautiful Bus Station Campaign’, merely painting the premises or presenting awards will not suffice. The actual service provided to passengers is far more important. For the past three months, we have been consistently pursuing this issue; however, administrative officials appear to be engaging only in paperwork, while passengers continue to face the same inconvenience. Fundamentally, a fixed monthly budget is sanctioned for maintaining the telephone and contact system at bus stations as well as the website. Where is this money going? If passengers are not receiving this facility, then why should the funds allocated over the years not be recovered with interest from the responsible officials? This direct question has been raised by Shri. Abhishek Murukate, Maharashtra State Coordinator of Surajya Abhiyan.

Administrative accountability must be fixed immediately

The technical excuse of non-functional landlines is no longer acceptable. As an alternative, official mobile numbers should immediately be provided for every bus station and depot, and their details should be promptly updated on the website. Strict administrative action should also be taken against employees and officials who deliberately fail to answer calls or keep official numbers inactive, treating it as a dereliction of duty. Additionally, during the fortnightly ‘deep cleaning inspections’ conducted at bus stations, not only cleanliness but also the status of the contact system should be mandatorily checked. 

Considering the seriousness of the matter, complaint letters have been submitted to the Transport Minister through divisional controllers, with the expectation of immediate corrective action.

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Surajya Abhiyan urges action on inactive contact numbers at Maharashtra ST depots

December 19, 2025

Widespread passenger inconvenience due to non-functional depot contact systems.

Mumbai: During an inspection conducted by Surajya Abhiyan, a critical issue affecting passenger convenience has come to light in relation to the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and the Transport Department.

To ensure that passengers receive up-to-date information about bus services, official contact numbers have been provided at every depot. However, it has been consistently observed across several depots in the state that authorised landline numbers at depots and control rooms remain non-functional for long periods, generate automated ‘inactive’ messages, or receive no response despite repeated calls.

Complaints of this nature have been reported from multiple locations, including Kudal, Devgad, Vijaydurga, Tarla, Vaibhavwadi, Vengurla in Sindhudurg district; Malegaon, Deola, Peth, Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district; as well as from various other regions across Maharashtra.

Surajya Abhiyan’s Maharashtra State Coordinator, Mr Abhishek Murkute, has urged the administration to take immediate cognisance of this issue. A formal memorandum outlining these concerns and demands has been submitted to Maharashtra Transport Minister and MSRTC Chairman Mr Pratap Sarnaik; Vice Chairman and Managing Director Dr Madhav Kusalkar; and Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Mr Vivek Bhimanwar.

The memorandum highlights that: 

• Due to the lack of reliable contact facilities, passengers are unable to obtain basic yet critical information such as whether a bus has departed, is delayed, has been cancelled, or when the next service will be available.
• This causes significant hardship, particularly to senior citizens, women, students, workers, and passengers travelling under emergency circumstances.
• This issue is not merely technical in nature, but directly impacts the service reliability of the Corporation and creates an obstacle to public interest.
• Transparency, reliability, and the protection of passenger interests in public transport services are core expectations from both the Government and MSRTC.

Key demands of Surajya Abhiyan

1. All landline telephone connections at bus depots across the state should be repaired immediately and kept operational 24 hours a day.
2. Each depot and control room should be provided with a permanent landline telephone as well as an official mobile contact number.
3. An updated list of active contact numbers should be published on the Corporation’s official website and displayed on public information boards.
4. Inactive telephone numbers or failure to respond to calls should be treated as a service lapse, and administrative accountability of the concerned officials should be fixed.
5. The quality of depot contact systems should be audited once every three months.
6. District-wise emergency helplines should be activated and their details widely publicised.
7. Call recording and monitoring systems should be implemented to ensure service quality at control rooms.

Memorandums submitted to state transport officials across the state