Kochi: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has yet again delayed the payment of salary to over 30, 000 employees, the third time in the last five months.

The salary was usually given on the last working day of every month. However, the management could not make timely payment for the month of November.

Though the management termed the issue as a ‘technical factor’, the problem persisted on two more occasions, the latest with regard to salaries for the month of February.

“The management and the transport minister had promised to distribute the outstanding pension due for the last three months before February 15. But nothing happened.

Now they have again defaulted on the salary and proof is that the staff of 22 depots have not got their salary till Monday morning,” said K K Diwakaran, state working president of the Left-affiliated union Kerala State Road Transport Employees’ Association.

The union members staged a protest before the Managing Director’s office at Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, the management termed the delay as being due to “technical issues” on the part of the banks and said it had enough funds to distribute the salary. Finally the bank accounts of the staff were credited with the salary by noon following which, the staff withdrew the protest.