MSRTC to Boost Performance with Guardian Officers
The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is revamping its operations by appointing 'guardian officers' for its weakest divisions to ensure financial turnaround. The move addresses ongoing operational losses and focuses on cost control, fuel efficiency, administrative discipline, and increasing revenue.
Highlights
- •Guardian Officers Appointed at MSRTC
- •Monthly Review Meetings to Monitor Progress
- •Revenue Targets and Incentives for Fuel Savings
- •Focus on Preventing Revenue Leakage
Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has launched a revitalization strategy aimed at turning around loss-making divisions of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
Under this plan, each weak division will be assigned a senior "guardian officer" to monitor performance across various aspects including revenue growth, cost control, fuel efficiency and administrative discipline. Monthly review meetings will track progress and corrective measures.
Motivation for Revival Strategy
The need for intervention stems from the Transport Department's findings that MSRTC incurred a loss of ₹536 crore during the financial year 2025–26. In April 2026, the corporation reported a loss of ₹76 crore despite increasing bus fares twice recently.
Minister Sarnaik, who is also Chairman of MSRTC, held strategic meetings with top officials including Chief Security and Vigilance Officer Priyanka Narnavare, Financial Advisor Girish Deshmukh, along with department heads and Regional Managers at the corporation's headquarters. The focus will encompass increasing revenue, curbing expenditure, ensuring fuel conservation, preventing revenue leakage, and enforcing administrative discipline.
Guardian officers will be directly responsible for the financial performance of their divisions and may face suspension if they fail to meet expectations in their respective regions. Sarnaik emphasized that passenger revenue should remain a priority: "Passenger revenue is the backbone of our operations and no compromise can be made," he stated.
MSRTC operates 31 divisional depots, with 21 currently losing money including major cities like Kolhapur, Nashik, Nagpur, Solapur, and Nanded. A key aspect of this plan is the initiation of monthly review meetings in the first week of every month to analyze revenue and expenditure trends.
Each depot will also be tasked with meeting defined revenue targets while incentivizing fuel savings through an internal scheme rewarding consistently efficient operations. Vigilance efforts are set to intensify as part of a broader strategy to prevent revenue leakage, particularly in ticket transactions management.
