Headless BEST faces a slew of problems

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has been headless ever since its former general manager Vijay Singhal was transferred to CIDCO 20 days ago. While the reins of the undertaking have been handed over to additional municipal commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi, the absence of a head has led to a slew of repercussions.

The lack of a full-time GM is reportedly affecting both working and quick decision-making. BEST officials said that files had to be taken to the civic headquarters for approval, while the supply of new buses from manufacturers had slowed down. “The administration is doing whatever is best to generate revenue, and has thus hiked bus pass fares,” said Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST committee member. “No thought is being given to passengers or staff welfare. This is evident from two incidents of unrest among the wet-lease driver community.”

According to the BEST unions, wet-lease drivers have been struggling to get their salaries on time, which is affecting the turnout of buses. There were protests in the first week of March, and on Tuesday, angry wet-lease bus drivers at the Shivaji Nagar, Worli, Backbay and Malwani depots made their displeasure public. Approximately 63% of BEST’s 2,965 buses are on a wet lease.

“At least 1,500 drivers raised the issue of delayed salaries with us,” said Jagnarayan Kahar, BEST union leader. “Now that there is no full-time bureaucrat heading BEST, there seems to be no control over the wet-lease bus operators.” By evening, however, the wet-lease drivers had received their salaries, though no reason for the delay was given by the operators.

The wet-lease bus fleet includes 1,398 AC buses and 466 non-AC buses. The fleet caters to 30 lakh to 32 lakh daily passengers and is among the lowest in BEST’s history. A decade ago, around 4,700 buses would ferry 45 lakh to 47 lakh people daily.

“BEST should be merged with the BMC, which is its parent body,” said Congress leader and former BEST Committee member Ravi Raja. “No one wants to head it now. It has become a white elephant. Every now and then, the wet-lease drivers are protesting, which shows that the administration is not efficient enough.”

In the recent BMC budget for 2024-25, a provision of ₹928 crore was made for BEST. The civic body allocated ₹800 crore as a grant to meet infrastructure development, capital equipment, repayment of loans, renting new buses on a wet-lease basis, pay revision, day-to-day expenses and employee welfare. ₹128 crore was allocated for the purchase of new buses.

“The government is spending crores on infrastructure projects but doesn’t have the money to keep BEST running,” said A V Shenoy, member of the Mumbai Mobility Forum, a commuter organisation. “The fact that BEST has been running without someone at its helm for so many days betrays the lack of seriousness of the government towards this mode of public transport. The city is not getting its new buses on time and there does not seem to be any solution to the constant trouble from wet-lease employees.”

A BEST official said that electric double-decker buses had stopped coming in for the past few days. “New 12-meter-long single-decker buses are coming in, which are part of the 2,100 e-buses,” he said.

BEST hiked the prices of season passes from March 1, the steepest increase being in monthly passes. While the pass for 150 trips with a single journey fare of ₹6 has jumped from ₹299 to ₹600, the cost of the monthly unlimited pass has risen from ₹750 to ₹900.