Mumbai: BEST employees still getting Rs 15,000 worth of salary in cash and coins

Photo for representational purpose

BEST employees are still getting Rs 15,000 as part of their salary in cash and coins of Rs 5 and Rs 10 denomination.

BEST panel member Sunil Ganacharya asked at a committee meeting on Wednesday, why cash in crores was not being deposited in bank accounts and was still lying at depots and BEST's cash room at Wadala for the past two months, stated a report in The Times of India.

"A contract was signed with a bank in January to lift ticket collections. It hasn't been done till date," he said at the meeting. "This is unwarranted as so much is lying in strong rooms of depots and at the central cash collection centre at Wadala," he added.

As per a senior BEST official a significant part of the ticket box collection was used to give monthly salaries to around 40,000 staffers. This included packets of coins of Rs 5 and Rs 10 denomination and cash of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 100 denominations up to Rs 15,000 as part of salary. A panel member said a contract to lift coins and cash was awarded in January and it was presumed that employees would get 100 per cent salaries in their accounts.

"But they still have to queue up to collect money bags. The rest of the salary is deposited in bank accounts," said the member.