Women conductors at the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s Kushaiguda depot in Hyderabad alleged on Wednesday that they were prevented from signing the attendance register and pressured to take leave when the drivers assigned to their buses were absent. Depot officials denied the allegation and said the conductors would receive their full salaries.
According to the conductors, they reported for duty but were made to wait without being given clarity on their assignments. They alleged that senior officials repeatedly asked them to apply for leave whenever drivers failed to report for work.
The dispute centres on how attendance and leave are recorded when one member of a bus crew is absent. The conductors questioned why they should use their leave balance despite having reported for duty as scheduled. They also expressed concern that being asked to take leave could affect their salaries or employment records.
The women employees said they had been waiting at the depot since morning without receiving clear instructions about their duties. They questioned the practice of asking conductors to remain absent when the corresponding driver was unavailable, arguing that the driver’s absence was not their responsibility.
The incident led to mild tension at the Kushaiguda RTC depot. The allegations bring attention to the administrative arrangements used by public transport depots to manage crew attendance, duty allocation and service operations when scheduled staff members do not report for work.
Kushaiguda depot officials rejected the conductors’ account, describing as false the claim that leave would be marked for a conductor if the driver assigned to the same bus remained absent. Officials said the conductors would still receive their full salaries and that marking them on leave would not result in salary deductions.
The officials’ response addressed the salary concern but did not provide further details on whether the conductors were allowed to sign the attendance register, how their duty status was recorded on the day, or what alternative assignments were considered. The report also does not specify the number of conductors involved or whether the issue has been referred to senior RTC authorities.
For the employees, the immediate concern is not only payment but also the use of leave when they are available for work. For the depot, the dispute highlights the operational link between driver availability and conductor deployment in bus services. Further clarification from the RTC on attendance procedures and duty allocation would determine how similar situations are handled across its depots.
