Patiala, June 17 -- The free travel for women has left the state-run Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) in a tight spot, financially.

"The PRTC, which has the biggest fleet of over 1,200 buses, is owed a huge sum of around Rs.500 crore by the Punjab government under this scheme. It's June 16 and the employees are still awaiting May month's salary," PRTC workers' union convener Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal said.

While no PRTC official was willing to come on record, a senior official confirmed that last time it received Rs.44 crore as reimbursement from the government in April and "the total pendency was around Rs.500 core.

"Generally, the scheme costs PRTC around Rs.400 crore in a year with the government releasing money in instalments. T...