Shut down wet-lease bus services, unions tell BEST

The unions also raised issues pertaining to the functioning of wet-lease bus operators and their staff

MUMBAI: BEST unions have claimed that the drivers used by wet-lease operators do not have an agreement with the BEST Undertaking, and are therefore plying illegally.

The unions also raised issues pertaining to the functioning of wet-lease bus operators and their staff following the Kurla accident of December 9. Representative Image (HT Photo)

On January 22, the BEST Kamgar Sena met the BEST administration headed by the BMC’s additional municipal commissioner (City) Ashwini Joshi, who looks after the day-to-day working of the undertaking. In the meeting, unions questioned how wet-lease operators were sub-leasing drivers who had no agreement with the undertaking.

The unions also raised issues pertaining to the functioning of wet-lease bus operators and their staff following the Kurla accident of December 9 as well as the poor maintenance practices of wet-lease buses. They also brought up the non-filling of vacancies in BEST’s supply department, which was affecting the efficiency of bill collection.

“The wet-lease operators seem to have a contract with some agency called Maurya which supplies drivers and other staff for running buses,” said Suhas Samant, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and president of the BEST Kamgar Sena. “However, the BEST has made it clear today that it has no direct contract with this agency nor control over its working.”

Samant emphasised that in such cases there was a need for a tripartite agreement to which BEST was a party. “BEST should put down Service Regulations and Standing Orders, which the wet-lease employees involved in the operations of BEST buses should follow just as BEST employees do,” he said. “BEST has been paying ₹52 crore per month to all the wet-lease operators put together and yet the service provided is dismal.” In the long run, however, the Kamgar Sena wants wet-lease operations to be shut down.

The BEST Workers Union too has demanded that wet-lease bus operations be terminated altogether. “We want BEST to maintain its own fleet at 3,337 buses and scrap the wet-lease model,” said president Shashank Sharad Rao. “Passengers are suffering, as the administration has no control over the wet-lease staff.” Earlier this month, the wet-lease staff went on a flash strike thrice in less than a week without due notice, which affected commuters badly.

A letter submitted by the Kamgar Sena to the BEST administration on January 22 stated that it should immediately shut down wet-lease bus operations, increase the fleet of self-owned buses, induct and run wet-lease buses in its fleet without involving operators, and fill up vacancies that have been pending for years. Samant alleged that BEST had not been filling the 500-odd vacancies in the supply division for almost a year now, which had resulted in a loss of ₹10 crore from unpaid electricity bills.

When questioned, Joshi said, “The meeting was a general discussion with the unions mainly to understand their issues.” A BEST spokesperson said it was a routine internal meeting, the details of which could not be revealed to the public through the media.