Bus route frequency cut — RTI to State Transport Corporation

Anita K. works as a lab technician at the district hospital in a tier-2 city of about six lakh people — one of the 116 cities chosen under the Centre's PM-eBus Sewa scheme. For years she has taken City Bus Route No. 12 from Depot-A to Hospital Square. The printed timetable at her stop promises a bus every 20 minutes, 36 trips a day. For the last two months she has stood at that stop for 50, sometimes 60 minutes at a stretch. She has counted: the real frequency has fallen to about 14 trips a day. Twice she has seen two Route-12 buses parked, engineless, behind the depot gate.

Nobody at the depot counter will tell her why. “Staff shortage,” says one clerk. “Bus sent for repair,” says another. A third shrugs: “Electric bus charging problem.” Anita is not asking for a favour. She is asking for the record — the simple paper that says how many trips were scheduled, how many actually ran, why the rest did not, and when the route will be restored. That record is hers to demand. The Right to Information Act, 2005 lets any citizen ask a public authority for recorded information, and a State Transport Corporation is a public authority. This guide shows you, step by step, how to file that RTI, what to ask, and how to escalate if the depot stays silent.

A State Transport Corporation (STC) — called a State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) in some states — is not a private bus company and not a purely private department. It is a statutory body created by a Central law, the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 (Act No. 64 of 1950, enacted 4 December 1950). Under Section 3 of that Act, a State Government establishes an RTC by notification; under Section 4, every Corporation is a “body corporate” with perpetual succession and a common seal, capable of suing and being sued.

Because an RTC is a statutory body created by a Central Act and funded substantially by the State, it is a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005. That single fact is the foundation of this entire guide: the STC cannot tell you it is “private” or “autonomous” and refuse your RTI. The Madras High Court confirmed this in Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Villupuram Ltd.) v. Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, W.P. No. 19669 of 2022, decided 15 December 2023. The Court treated the STC as a public authority responding to RTI; it set aside a Rs.10,000 State Information Commission penalty on the PIO only on the narrow ground that the COVID limitation period (15 March 2020 to 28 February 2022) was excluded. The STC's status as an RTI-amenable body was not in doubt.

For private stage carriages (the yellow-board buses run by private operators on a route), the STC itself is not the right target. The route and the permit are granted by the State Transport Authority (STA) or a Regional Transport Authority (RTA), constituted under Section 68 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Section 66 of that Act says no transport vehicle may be used in a public place except under a permit granted or countersigned by a Regional or State Transport Authority. Under Section 68(3)(ca), the STA formulates routes for stage carriages and settles inter-region route disputes. So: STC for the corporation's own buses; STA/RTA for private-operator permits.

To ask a sharp question, you need to know which record lives where. An STC is usually structured as: Head Office (Corporation HQ) → Divisional Office → Depot. The Depot Manager runs day-to-day operations for a cluster of routes — the depot holds the operational records you most want: route timetables, vehicle-wise trip logs, breakdown and grounding registers, fuel issue registers, EV-charging logs, driver roster, and ridership counts. The Divisional Office holds route-level performance summaries and route-rationalisation orders. The Head Office holds fleet, finance, and scheme records (including PM-eBus Sewa deployment orders at the state end).

At the Central level, three ministries hold different pieces:

1. Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) runs PM-eBus Sewa — the scheme to deploy 10,000 electric buses on public-private-partnership in 116 cities across 26 States/UTs, with a Cabinet-approved outlay of Rs.57,613 crore (Central support Rs.20,000 crore), targeting cities of 3 lakh to 40 lakh population. The first four cities (Guwahati, Nagpur, Bhavnagar, Chandigarh) began operations on 14 February 2026 with 225 electric buses flagged off; Letters of Award have been issued for 5,012 buses across 69 cities. The public-facing portal is pm-ebus-sewa.mohua.gov.in. For route, frequency, and e-bus deployment RTI at the Central level, the PIO is in MoHUA.
2. Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) notified the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Scheme by Gazette S.O. 4711(E) dated 28 October 2024, with an allocated budget of Rs.3,435.33 crore, supporting deployment of 38,000-plus e-buses and providing payment security where Public Transport Authorities default on payments to OEMs or operators. For e-bus warranty, OEM, and breakdown-payment RTI at the Central level, the PIO is in MHI.
3. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is the apex ministry for road transport policy, inter-state transport coordination, and bus safety/body-code rules; it runs the Vahan portal. For inter-state route permits, bus safety standards, and national-level policy RTI, the PIO is in MoRTH.

Two things changed in 2026 that directly shape a bus-route RTI.

First, PM-eBus Sewa moved from paper to pavement. Operations began on 14 February 2026 in the first four cities (Guwahati, Nagpur, Bhavnagar, Chandigarh) with 225 e-buses flagged off, and Letters of Award now cover 5,012 buses across 69 cities. If your city is one of the 116, the answer to “why is my route frequency cut?” may now involve an e-bus transition plan — diesel buses being withdrawn before enough e-buses are commissioned. That is a documented transition, and the deployment schedule is a disclosable record.

Second, bus safety inspection got teeth. At the 43rd Transport Development Council (January 2026), MoRTH announced that new buses will not be registered by RTOs without physical plus video inspection of safety features, with a manufacturer/body-builder/RTO checklist uploaded on the Vahan portal. For an “e-bus breakdown/safety” angle, you can ask the STC for the safety-compliance inspection records of a specific bus or route — a question that simply did not exist in this form a year ago.

What does this mean for Anita? The reason her Route-12 buses are parked engineless may be a documented e-bus transition or a safety-withdrawal order, not a vague “staff shortage.” That makes now the right time to ask — while the records are fresh and the deployment is ongoing.

You will usually file one application, at the depot that runs your route. If your city is a PM-eBus Sewa participant and the question involves e-bus deployment, you can file a second, Central application to MoHUA in parallel.

Step 1 — Identify the public authority and the PIO.

1. State (most common): The Depot Manager or Divisional Office of your State Road Transport Corporation, for the depot that operates your route. The Depot Manager typically functions as the Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) or PIO for operational records. Address the application to “The Public Information Officer, Divisional Office / Depot-A, [Your State] Road Transport Corporation, [City].”
2. Central (for PM-eBus Sewa / e-bus deployment): Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India. File online through the Central RTI portal rtionline.gov.in and pay by card/UPI. For payment-security or OEM warranty questions, file to the Ministry of Heavy Industries.
3. Private operator route: The State Transport Authority or Regional Transport Authority, for the permit and complaint history.

Step 2 — Prepare your questions. Ask for specific, dated records, not vague “details.” Five strong questions:

1. Timetable vs actual: “Furnish the sanctioned timetable frequency for Route No. 12 (Depot-A to Hospital Square) and the vehicle-wise, date-wise number of trips actually deployed on each day from 01 March 2026 to 30 April 2026.”
2. Breakdown/grounding log: “Furnish the vehicle-wise breakdown and grounding register entries for buses allotted to Route No. 12 for the period 01 March 2026 to 30 April 2026, with dates, reasons, and dates of return to service.”
3. Fuel/charging records: “Furnish the fuel-issue register or EV-charging log entries for buses allotted to Route No. 12 for the said period, including any recorded instances of fuel shortage or charging-station downtime.”
4. Reason for the cut: “Furnish any route-rationalisation, frequency-reduction, or PM-eBus Sewa deployment order that affects Route No. 12, with the order number, date, and the authority that issued it.”
5. Restoration date: “Furnish the projected date of restoration of the sanctioned frequency on Route No. 12, and the action plan, if any, to achieve it.”

Step 3 — Use the right form and fee.

1. For a State application to the STC, use the standard RTI application format under Section 6 of the RTI Act, 2005. The Central fee is Rs.10, payable by Indian Postal Order, court-fee stamp, cash against receipt, or electronic means, prescribed under the Right to Information Rules, 2012 (G.S.R. 603(E), 31 July 2012) made under Section 27 of the RTI Act. State fees vary — Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh charge Rs.10; some states charge Rs.20. Confirm your state's RTI Rules before filing. BPL applicants are exempt on production of proof. The application should ordinarily be 500 words or less. See RTI for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know Before Filing Your for the step-by-step filing basics and RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) for state-wise fees.
2. For a Central application to MoHUA or MHI, file online at rtionline.gov.in and pay Rs.10 by card/UPI.

Step 4 — Submit and keep proof. File by hand at the depot office and take a stamped receiving copy, or send by registered post and keep the acknowledgement, or file online and save the registration number. Proof of submission is your protection if the reply is delayed.

Step 5 — Wait 30 days. The PIO must reply within 30 days of receiving your application. Under Section 7(1), where the information concerns the life or liberty of a person, the reply is due within 48 hours — but a routine frequency-cut query does not normally meet that bar unless it concerns, say, a school route with safety implications.

You can draft and check your application with the AI RTI Draft App at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html and verify a reply against the Act with the PIO Reply Checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html .

1. A photocopy of your identity proof (Aadhaar, Voter ID, PAN, or driving licence).
2. The fee — Indian Postal Order marked in favour of the STC/depot, or court-fee stamp, or cash against a receipt, or online payment receipt for Central applications.
3. For BPL applicants: a photocopy of the BPL ration card as fee-exemption proof.
4. If you are a daily commuter on the route, a photocopy of a used monthly pass or ticket for that route strengthens the “citizen interest” framing (not mandatory).
5. A photograph of the printed timetable at your stop, if you have one — useful as an annexure, not a substitute for the RTI itself.

1. Filing without a route number and dates. “My bus is always late” is a complaint, not an RTI question. The PIO needs the route number and a date range to pull the trip log. Without them, you get a polite “information not identifiable” reply.
2. Filing only at Head Office when the record is at the depot. Operational records — trip logs, breakdown registers, fuel issues — live at the depot. Head Office will forward your application and the clock keeps ticking. File at the depot that runs your route.
3. Treating a private-operator bus as an STC bus. A private yellow-board stage carriage is governed by its permit from the STA/RTA under Section 66 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. File at the STA/RTA for permit conditions and complaint history, not at the STC.
4. Asking vague “why” questions. “Why is the frequency cut?” invites an essay. Ask for named records with dates — the sanctioned timetable, the actual trip log, the breakdown register, the route-rationalisation order. The reason emerges from the records.
5. Forgetting suo motu disclosures. Under Section 4(1)(b) of the RTI Act — specifically Section 4(1)(b)(xii) — public authorities must proactively disclose programmes and performances that affect the public. Route timetables, fare charts, and performance figures fall squarely here. If your STC has not published them, your RTI forces compliance.
6. Skipping the first appeal. If the depot does not reply in 30 days, many commuters give up. The First Appeal under Section 19(1) is your real leverage — it goes to the officer senior in rank to the PIO in the same STC, and the FAA must decide within 30 days (extendable to 45).

RTI is powerful because it has a built-in ladder. If the PIO ignores you or gives a vague reply, you do not stop there.

1. First appeal: If no reply comes within 30 days (or you are unhappy with the reply), file a First Appeal under Section 19(1) with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) — the officer senior in rank to the PIO within the same STC. Do this within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period. The FAA must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45. For a depot-level RTI, the FAA is usually the Divisional Manager or Regional Manager.
2. Second appeal: If the FAA also fails you, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) with your State Information Commission. There is ordinarily no fee for a second appeal to the State Commission (a few states charge a nominal fee — check your State RTI Rules).
3. Complaint under Section 18: You can also file a direct complaint to the State Information Commission if the PIO never replied at all or refused to accept your application. The Commission can order disclosure and, under Section 20(1), impose a penalty of Rs.250 per day up to Rs.25,000 on the PIO for non-compliance without reasonable cause.

For bus-route RTIs, the most common outcome is that the depot replies with partial information — say, the sanctioned timetable but not the breakdown log — and asks you to “approach the divisional office” for the rest. Filing a first appeal that lists exactly which of your five questions went unanswered is usually enough to get the full record.

1. Photograph the printed timetable first. Before filing, take a clear photo of the timetable board at your stop showing the route number and promised frequency. It is your baseline for “sanctioned” frequency and lets you quote exact figures (e.g. “one bus every 20 minutes, 36 trips a day”) in your RTI.
2. Keep a commuter diary for two weeks. Note the date, the time you reached the stop, and the time a bus actually arrived. Attach a copy as an annexure. It is not the official record, but it shows the PIO you have a specific, dated grievance — not a vague complaint.
3. Ask for suo motu disclosures too. Under Section 4(1)(b)(xii) of the RTI Act, public authorities must proactively disclose programmes and performances that affect the public. If your STC has not published route-wise performance, your RTI forces compliance and the reply becomes a reference document for every commuter on that route.
4. Pair with the elected representatives. Route cuts are often political decisions in disguise. A copy of the STC's route-rationalisation order, obtained through RTI, is sharp evidence to place before your municipal corporator or MLA's grievance committee.
5. For accidents, file a separate RTI. If a bus-route query involves a specific accident or safety incident, file a separate RTI asking for the safety-compliance inspection records uploaded on the Vahan portal under the January 2026 MoRTH three-level inspection rules — do not bundle it into a frequency query.
6. File once, track twice. The same route may be served by STC buses, private stage carriages, and (in PM-eBus Sewa cities) electric buses under a PPP operator. Ask the PIO to clarify under which arrangement each trip is run, so you do not chase the wrong record.

To
The Public Information Officer
Divisional Office / Depot-A
[Your State] Road Transport Corporation
[City]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005
         — Bus route operations on Route No. [..] from [..] to [..]

Sir/Madam,

I, [your name], citizen of India, request the following information under
Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, relating to Route No. [12] (Depot-A to
Hospital Square) operated by this depot for the period 01 March 2026 to
30 April 2026:

1. The sanctioned timetable frequency for Route No. 12 and the
   vehicle-wise, date-wise number of trips actually deployed on each
   day in the said period.
2. The vehicle-wise breakdown and grounding register entries for buses
   allotted to Route No. 12 in the said period, with dates, reasons,
   and dates of return to service.
3. The fuel-issue register or EV-charging log entries for buses
   allotted to Route No. 12 in the said period, including any recorded
   fuel shortage or charging-station downtime.
4. Any route-rationalisation, frequency-reduction, or PM-eBus Sewa
   deployment order affecting Route No. 12, with order number, date,
   and issuing authority.
5. The projected date of restoration of the sanctioned frequency on
   Route No. 12 and any action plan to achieve it.

I state that the information sought is not exempt under Section 8 or 9
of the RTI Act. If the information is held by another public authority,
please forward this application under Section 6(3) within five days.

I elect to receive the information in printed/electronic form. The
application fee of Rs.10 is paid by Indian Postal Order No. [..] dated
[..] in favour of the [State] Road Transport Corporation.

If the information is not furnished within the period specified under
Section 7(1), I reserve the right to file a first appeal under
Section 19(1) and a second appeal under Section 19(3).

Place: [..]                        Yours faithfully,
Date: [..]                         [your name and address]
                                   [phone / email]

Yes. An STC is a statutory body created by the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 (Section 3 and Section 4), and is therefore a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. The Madras High Court confirmed this in Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Villupuram Ltd.) v. Tamil Nadu State Information Commission (W.P. No. 19669 of 2022, decided 15 December 2023), where the Court treated the STC as a public authority responding to RTI. The STC cannot refuse on the ground that it is “autonomous” or “loss-making.”

File with the State Transport Authority or Regional Transport Authority for your region, constituted under Section 68 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Under Section 66, no transport vehicle may ply without a permit granted or countersigned by the STA/RTA. Ask for the permit conditions, the approved timetable, the frequency-compliance reports, and the complaint history against that operator. The STC depot will not hold a private operator's records.

The Central fee is Rs.10, payable by Indian Postal Order, court-fee stamp, cash against receipt, or electronic means, prescribed under the Right to Information Rules, 2012 (G.S.R. 603(E), 31 July 2012). For a State application to your STC, the fee varies by State RTI Rules — Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh charge Rs.10; some states charge Rs.20. Check your state's rules before filing. BPL applicants are exempt on production of proof. See RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) for a state-wise list.

File a First Appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act with the First Appellate Authority — the officer senior in rank to the PIO within the same STC — within 30 days of the expiry of the reply period. The FAA must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45. If the FAA also fails, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) with your State Information Commission. You can also file a complaint under Section 18 if the PIO never replied at all. Use the First Appeal App at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/first-appeal-app.html to draft the appeal, and the Timeline Calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html to compute your deadlines.

Yes. For an STC's own e-buses, ask the depot for the vehicle-wise breakdown and grounding log and the EV-charging records. For OEM warranty and payment-security questions under the PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Scheme (notified by the Ministry of Heavy Industries by S.O. 4711(E) dated 28 October 2024), file a Central RTI to MHI. For route and deployment questions under PM-eBus Sewa itself, file to MoHUA at the Central portal.

No. A trip log, breakdown register, and route-rationalisation order are the STC's own operational records, not third-party information under Section 11, and not commercial confidence under Section 8(1)(d) — they concern a public service run on public routes with public funds. Section 4(1)(b)(xii) in fact requires proactive disclosure of programmes and performances that affect the public. Push back in your first appeal; this is a standard evasion.

Ordinarily 500 words or less, as prescribed under the Right to Information Rules, 2012. The five questions above fit comfortably within that limit. If your application exceeds 500 words, the PIO may ask you to pay an additional fee for the extra words — keep it tight and dated.

For Central applications (MoHUA, MHI, MoRTH), file online at rtionline.gov.in — it is faster and gives you a registration number instantly. For State applications to an STC depot, paper filing at the depot counter with a stamped receiving copy, or registered post with acknowledgement, is usually the practical route, because most state online portals do not cover depot-level STC offices. Keep proof either way.

The RTI Act allows “any citizen” to file — each application is an individual citizen's. An RWA cannot file a single joint RTI, but its members can file identical applications in parallel, which is often effective: five dated applications from five commuters on the same route is harder for the depot to ignore than one.

1. Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 (Act No. 64 of 1950): [indiacode.nic.in](https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/1541/1/195064.pdf)
2. Legislative reference — Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950: [lddashboard.legislative.gov.in](https://lddashboard.legislative.gov.in/actsofparliamentfromtheyear/road-transport-corporations-act-1950)
3. Right to Information Act, 2005 — Sections 2(h), 4(1)(b), 6(1), 6(3), 7(1), 10, 19(1), 19(3), 20(1): [righttoinformation.gov.in](https://righttoinformation.gov.in/)
4. Right to Information Rules, 2012 (G.S.R. 603(E), 31 July 2012) — fee and modes of payment: [legalaffairs.gov.in](https://legalaffairs.gov.in/rti/fee-required-under-rti-act)
5. DOPT FAQ on RTI Rules, 2012: [dopt.gov.in](https://dopt.gov.in/sites/default/files/FAQ_RTI_2012%20(1).pdf)
6. Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — Section 66 (permits), Section 68 (STA/RTA): [cgtransport.gov.in](https://cgtransport.gov.in/Notification/CMVA_1988.pdf)
7. Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Villupuram Ltd.) v. Tamil Nadu State Information Commission, W.P. No. 19669 of 2022 (Madras HC, 15 Dec 2023): [indiankanoon.org](https://indiankanoon.org/doc/57565292/)
8. PM-eBus Sewa — Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: [pm-ebus-sewa.mohua.gov.in](https://pm-ebus-sewa.mohua.gov.in/)
9. PM e-Bus Sewa Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) Scheme — Ministry of Heavy Industries (S.O. 4711(E), 28 Oct 2024): [heavyindustries.gov.in](https://www.heavyindustries.gov.in/en/pm-e-bus-sewa-payment-security-mechanism-psm-scheme)
10. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways — Road Transport wing: [morth.gov.in](https://www.morth.gov.in/en/road-transport)
11. MoRTH — 43rd Transport Development Council (January 2026), bus safety inspection and Vahan portal checklist: [timesofindia.indiatimes.com](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/3-level-compliance-mandatory-video-inspection-safety-checklist-for-every-bus-soon-under-new-rules-says-nitin-gadkari/articleshow/130588854.cms)
12. Central RTI online portal: [rtionline.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)

1. RTI for beginners — filing basics
2. RTI for commercial vehicle fitness certificate
3. RTI for vehicle RC/NOC delay
4. RTI for traffic challan status
5. RTI for road repair delay
6. RTI for daily life — citizen RTI hub
7. EV subsidy not received — escalation

Last reviewed: 4 July 2026.