Bengaluru: For a brief moment on Saturday, around 100 employees of BMTC’s Yesvantpur Depot-26 must have felt that the long-promised reward had finally come true. Then calls started coming.In what the corporation termed a “technical error”, a billing clerk mistakenly credited the entire 26 months of pay revision arrears to about 100 staff members instead of the sanctioned first installment of 11 months.While drivers, conductors, mechanics and administrative staff received the right amount elsewhere, a lucky few suddenly found themselves economically transported several stops ahead of schedule.However, BMTC moved swiftly to pull the handbrake. According to an official clarification issued on Sunday, the depot manager informed the central office immediately after noticing the anomaly. Employees who received additional funds were contacted and requested to return the excess payment.BMTC clarified that the payment, along with receipts, is being collected officially through the account linked to the department using a QR scanner at the Chaudeshwari Mandir bus stop office. The corporation appeared particularly eager to clarify the issue after social media users responded with both skepticism and delight.The video circulating online claimed that “26 months’ worth of money belongs to the employees” and questioned why the money was being collected “through the temple scanner”. BMTC stressed that the process is completely official, transparent and properly documented.So far 35 staff members have returned the extra amount.This incident briefly presented Bengaluru’s most short-lived wage upgrade. Employees who felt unexpectedly appreciated by the system were politely asked to make a return trip within a few hours.