Newly-launched AC BEST service in trouble, passengers claim fares 'exorbitant'

A pointtopoint airconditioned BEST bus service launched recently in Mumbai by Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray has run into a controversy over the issue of its fares which some passengers and activists have claimed to be exorbitantWhile officials of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Department told PTI that the bus service fares have not been approved by the regulator Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority MMRTA the BEST administration claimed its policymaking body has given it nod to the faresOn Sunday state Environment and Tourism Minister and Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray inaugurated 60 new electric buses of the pointtopoint service of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST the transport undertaking of the Senaruled city civic body The bus service started from TuesdayAlso Read Mumbai Furore as BEST decides to rent its drivers to govt babusAccording to BEST passengers will have to pay Rs 75 for travelling from the city airport to BandraKurla Complex BKC Rs 125 to Nehru Planetarium in Worli Rs 150 to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus CSMT and Rs 175 to reach Hotel Trident and the Gateway of India in south Mumbai from the airportHowever citizens passenger activists and experts claimed the fares were exorbitant as compared to the normal BEST fares which are in the range of Rs 5 to 20 for ordinary buses and Rs 6 to Rs 25 for AC buses for similar distancesState Transport Commissioner and MMRTA member Avinash Dhakane confirmed that the transport authority had not received any proposal about the bus service fareProposal about this was not put before the MMRTA Dhakane told PTIBut the BEST administration claimed that its committee which is the policymaking body of the undertaking had approved the fare of the pointtopoint bus service but it avoided comment on whether it got the MMTRAs nodThe fare has received approval from the BEST committee a spokesperson of the undertaking saidDespite repeated attempts BEST General Manager Lokesh Chandra did not reply to queries on the issueA former official of the state Motor Vehicles department said unless the regulator clears the fare structure which is prepared by public transport bodies approved by the MMRTA it cannot be implementedA senior official of the Regional Transport Office RTO here on condition of anonymity claimed the fare structure was decided without the approval of MMRTA and that prior sanction was mandatory before launching the new bus serviceThe BEST undertaking provides public bus services in Mumbai and neighbouring cities including Thane MiraBhayander and Navi Mumbai Around 25 lakh passengers travel daily in the BEST busesA V Shenoy a transport activist said the service is a good initiative to help passengers travelling to and from the airport but claimed that its fare structure cannot be implemented without MMRTAs approvalThe BEST is a stage carrier and governed by RTA regional transport authority regulations Hence it should take approval from the RTA regarding fares being charged for the services which otherwise would not be as per the law Shenoy saidSome passengers also sought to know why the bus fares for the new service were highWhy so expensive What additional facilities will be offered to justify the additional fare over normal AC routes myBESTBus AUThackeray tweeted passenger Akshay MaratheRavi Raja leader of opposition in the Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation BMC and the Congress member of the BEST committee claimed that implementation of the fare structure without the approval of MMRTA is a blunderThe BEST undertaking should have realised that this service is for the common man and not the elite class he saidBMCs BJP corporator Bhalchandra Shirsat termed the new bus service fare as exorbitantHe claimed that under the leadership of Aaditya Thackeray the Shiv Sena was trying to take BEST on the same path of loss where it has taken the ST stateowned bus servicesThe BEST transport undertaking has been continuously running in losses and it depends on its power distribution business for financial gainsEarlier this month the undertaking presented a deficit budget of Rs 223648 crore for the transport vertical for FY23This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever