Halt privatisation of BEST services: Workers’ union to BMC

BEST Kamgar Sena demands BMC halt bus service privatization after a fatal accident, urging investment in a self-owned fleet for better safety and training.

Mumbai: If the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) wants to restore its former glory and regain people’s trust, the privatisation of its bus services must be halted immediately. This was the demand made by the BEST Kamgar Sena, a workers’ union, in a letter sent to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the aftermath of the BEST bus accident in Kurla on December 9, in which eight people were killed and 41 injured.

Halt privatisation of BEST services: Workers’ union to BMC

In the letter addressed to BMC chief Bhushan Gagrani, BEST Kamgar Sena president Suhas Samant and vice-president Anil Kokil wrote that the civic body should focus on investing in a self-owned fleet of buses that’s directly under its direct control rather than having a wet-lease model. By purchasing and maintaining buses itself, BEST can ensure that the vehicles meet safety standards and that the drivers are properly trained, the letter said.

The electric bus involved in the Kurla accident belonged to one of BEST’s wet-lease contractors, which provide both the buses and the drivers. According to the police, the arrested bus driver, Sanjay More, had not undergone adequate training to drive an automatic electric bus.

The union’s letter to the BMC said one of the major factors contributing to such accidents is the lack of proper maintenance and repairs of the buses by the private contractors. Many of the wet-lease buses are in poor condition, which directly impacts their safety, it said. Despite the seriousness of these issues, BEST continues to rely heavily on private contractors, who are failing to uphold even basic safety standards, the letter added.

Kokil, a former corporator from the Shiv Sena (UBT), told HT, “If the wet lease bus isn’t taken out of the depot for commuters, the contractor is levied a ₹5,000 fine. To save on the fine amount, they hire a rickshaw driver or cab driver and tell them to take a round in this bus. There is no control. The one who was responsible for the accident had no prior experience to drive a BEST bus.”

Equally concerning, added Kokil, was the inadequate training provided to the drivers of these contract buses. “Many drivers are not fully prepared to handle the challenges of operating large public transport vehicles, leading to reckless and sometimes dangerous driving,” he said. “This issue is exacerbated by the low wages paid to contract workers, forcing many to work multiple shifts a day. The result is fatigued and overworked drivers, leading to further road safety risks.” Gagrani was unavailable for comment.

Kokil also said that BEST drivers appointed either temporarily or as permanent employees undergo three months of training at Goregaon or Dindoshi. They are authorised to drive BEST buses only after they clear a test, he said. “But in the case of private contractors, there is no control and no system of training. That’s why we demand that there should be no wet lease buses,” he added.

The former corporator revealed that BMC, BEST, and union leader Shashank Rao had signed an MoU in 2019 stating that BEST would own a fleet of 3,337 buses, while the remaining would be on a wet lease. “After that MoU was signed, not a single bus was owned by BEST and no budgetary provision was made for the same,” he said. BEST currently has 1,900 wet-leased buses out of its total fleet of 2,913.