Only 67 of the 989 buses owned by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) have CCTV cameras, but the devices are functional in 42 of these vehicles. According to the administration, the cameras in the remaining 25 are inoperative due to “technical error”. Even buses with cameras lack road-facing dashboard cameras amid calls from experts to make them mandatory. In total, apart from the 989 buses it owns, the BEST has 1,900 buses that are operated under the wet-lease system. All of these have CCTV cameras but the surveillance systems on 420 buses are not functioning.

The site of the December 9 accident in Kurla West. File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi