The sight of bright red Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses bearing flashy advertisements for app-based bike services has irked several citizens, who say the city’s public transport utility is effectively promoting its private competitors. Commuters have pointed out that the BEST undertaking — already struggling to retain passengers amid the growing popularity of cab aggregators and two-wheelers — should be more careful about what it chooses to advertise on its buses.

“While ad revenue matters, shouldn’t there be basic screening, so public buses don’t end up promoting services that compete with them? Public assets shouldn’t advertise their own substitutes,” said transport planner Aditya Rane, who spotted a bike ad on a bus in South Mumbai earlier this week. Fellow commuter Abhishek Risbud agreed, adding, “Placing such ads is a way of discouraging the use of buses. BEST certainly needs ad revenue; however, it shouldn’t be at the cost of losing its own passengers. They have to be conscious and filter the ads that they accept.”