The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Road Transport Corporation (RTC) labor unions, which had organized a ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ on Thursday demanding the fulfillment of various long-pending demands, has temporarily withdrawn its strike plan following fresh assurances from the state government.
The union issued a deadline of March 2 and warned that the agitation would resume if the government did not order a full wage revision and release the entire arrears to the workers.
On Wednesday, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy announced that the state has agreed to release 26 months’ salary arrears of ₹ 1,271.92 crore to officers and employees of the four state transport corporations – Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western KarnakaWKRTC Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).
Despite this, the transport staff claimed that their main demand remained outstanding. The unions insist on settling the arrears for a full 38 months instead of the 26 months proposed by the government.
As part of the negotiations, KSRTC Managing Director Akram Pasha visited the protest site at Freedom Park in Bengaluru and held discussions with the agitating workers. After the latest round of negotiations, the Joint Action Committee announced that the strike would be temporarily halted for the time being.
JAC convener Jayadevaraj Arasu said the decision was taken in view of the government’s partial response and in public interest.
“The joint action committee has decided not to continue the strike from tomorrow. However, we have given the government a 10-day deadline till March 2. If our demands are not fully met by then, we will resume the agitation,” he said.
He further emphasized that all outstanding demands, including complete implementation of wage revision and full payment of arrears, must be resolved within the stipulated time frame. “With the strike plan postponed, bus services will operate as usual from tomorrow,” he added.
However, not all employees at the protest site agreed with the decision. Some workers present at Freedom Park reportedly protested the temporary withdrawal and urged union leaders to continue the strike until all demands were met unconditionally. But JAC leaders convinced them.
Bus service normal
Meanwhile, RTC officials said the protest had little impact on bus services across the state on Thursday, with overall fleet utilization exceeding 96%.
A total of 12,458 planned departures were planned in the four corporations. Of these, 11,987 services were operated, resulting in an overall operation rate of 96.22%.
In addition, 663 additional services were deployed, bringing the total number of services operated to 12,650. This took the effective operating percentage, including additional departures, to 101.54 as of 10:00 AM on the day of the protest.
KSRTC operated 3,806 of its 4,177 scheduled departures and recorded 91.12% operations. With 656 additional services operated under the ‘Jatra’ (temple fair) arrangement, its effective operating percentage increased to 106.82%.
BMTC saw almost full operations, operating 3,540 services against 3,532 scheduled departures, achieving 100.23% efficiency without deploying additional services.
NWKRTC operated 2,250 of its 2,310 scheduled departures, registering 97.40% operations. With seven additional services operated to meet the demand for liver, its effective operation increased to 97.71%.
KKRTC reported operations of 2,391 out of 2,439 scheduled departures, achieving 98.03% operations.
Commuters are calling for a permanent solution
Commuters expressed relief at the development.
Pavan Kumar from Jayanagar said, “There were no problems today. All buses were running as usual and passengers did not face any inconvenience. But I feel the government and unions need to resolve this issue permanently. Frequent protests create insecurity and ultimately commuters suffer. Government should ensure that RTC employees get their arrears on time. They are doing a vital public service.”
The current agitation builds on earlier tensions between unions and the government. In August 2025, the JAC announced an indefinite strike after negotiations with the government failed. The strike was later called off after the intervention of the Karnataka High Court.
The ‘Bengaluru Chalo’ protest was originally scheduled for January 29 but was postponed after veteran trade unionist HV Anantha Subba Rao, who spearheaded the agitation, died of cardiac arrest on January 28. The program was subsequently rescheduled and took place on February 19.
Published – 19 Feb 2026 21:03 IST