BEST revenue dips due to conductorless buses, lax checking

Mumbai: The decision by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to operate buses without conductors has backfired, resulting in financial losses due to ticketless travellers

Mumbai: The decision by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to operate buses without conductors has backfired, resulting in financial losses due to ticketless travellers. Recent data indicates that the move, coupled with inactive ticket checkers, has led to a significant drop in fines collected.

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A senior BEST official stated, “The monthly earnings from fines is barely ₹5-7 lakh, which is quite less. The ticket-checking team doesn’t seem to be diligently going on the ground. The situation (in terms of earnings) otherwise would have been different.” The earnings from fines used to be around ₹25-30 lakh per month. There are around 300-350 odd ticket checkers in BEST. To address the financial setback, BEST plans to intensify the activation of ticket-checking inspectors at bus stops citywide. Currently, 2,950 buses transport over 30 lakh passengers daily.

In a recent meeting with ticket-checking staff, senior BEST officials discussed strategies to enhance ticket-checking measures. Rupesh Shelatkar of Aapli BEST Aaplyachsathi said, “There are barely any TCs that one comes across at bus stops, barring important commercial locations in south Mumbai. Since conductor-less buses have started, instances of passengers not getting to buy or enjoy bus travel without a ticket also seem to exist. Many times, there are no TCs at less important bus stops. It is as if most of the ticket-checking staff have retired.”

Sources revealed that the number of conductors employed by BEST has drastically decreased, particularly with the introduction of wet lease buses. There were close to 12,000 conductors with BEST, which according to the unions, have dropped drastically. Instances of passengers alighting without tickets, especially in wet lease buses, have become more prevalent.

The wet-lease buses that have a larger fleet of around 1900 buses don’t wait for long at bus stops. Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST committee member, highlighted the impact of the wet lease model, stating, “In the past, drivers and conductors who completed 30 years of service were allowed to become inspectors after appearing for an examination. Now, there are barely such staff left after the wet lease model was introduced, so you will rarely see a checking inspector.”

The whole idea to introduce conductorless buses in March 2021 aimed to promote mobile ticketing through apps like Chalo or smart cards that a conductor would tap at the start of the journey. However, challenges emerged, including crowding and inadequate installation of tap-in and tap-out devices, limiting revenue opportunities.

At present, BEST is doing everything possible to improve its financial position. The undertaking is planning to develop residential and commercial buildings at bus depots of Bandra, Deonar, and Dindoshi for which studies are underway.