Bengaluru CEO says a 17km Whitefield-HSR trip took two hours

Bala Panneerselvam said a 17km trip from Whitefield to HSR took him two hours at 4pm, even though there was no rain or other reported disruption.

In a LinkedIn post, the Bengaluru CEO shared a photograph of an empty office at 10.15am and wrote that the difficulty was not employees’ willingness to come in, but “the effort it takes to show up at the office”. He said a four-kilometre journey around HSR could take about 20 minutes by scooter and 30 minutes by car, with peak-hour traffic adding roughly 10 minutes.

The journey also affects people after they arrive, he wrote. Negotiating traffic and two-wheelers jumping signals leaves commuters less fresh for the workday, while an evening trip after 6pm can take twice as long. Even leaving at 5pm, he said, can leave little energy for life outside work.

Others responding to the post described similar delays, including a three-hour trip to an event in Whitefield. One suggestion was for companies to expand centres in cities such as Kochi, Coimbatore, Hosur and Mysuru.