The BEST’s directive to bus conductors to pay up if parts of ticket machines are found broken or non-functional has irked employees. Trade unions are threatening to take to the streets in protest.

A BEST circular stated that staffers receiving machines from conductors or ground booking staff post duty observed that the plastic flaps over the display of the machine were seemingly cut open. This exposes and affects the display area while storing them. This affects the machine’s productivity and longevity, making it non-functional in the long run. The undertaking has listed damages that need to be recovered for various items which are found to be broken. There has been a major backlash with employee representatives terming this a dictatorship while BEST insists this is in line with its policies.