Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has levied a ₹17 lakh fine on Tata Motors for not integrating over 250 buses with Chalo App causing inconvenience to passengers in locating buses on the mobile application.
This comes at a time when the recent Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) budget allocated ₹800 crore to BEST undertaking to improve overall passenger experience.
However, one of its key projects, linking buses with the Chalo App lies incomplete as the vehicle manufacturer is yet to integrate its buses in the BEST fleet with the app.
“There are over 250 plus buses of Tata Motors that are yet to be integrated with the Chalo App. Due to this, passengers are facing problems in locating buses on routes. We have levied a fine of ₹17 lakh on Tata Motors till now. We have been assured that these buses will be compliant to our needs,” a senior BEST official said.
The Chalo App allows passengers to view the location of a bus in real-time and plan the journey. There are 1.35 lakh users of the app.
Meanwhile, Tata Motors claimed that they share a strong working relationship with the BEST. In an email reply to Hindustan Times, a spokesperson for the vehicle manufacturer said, “Tata Motors has supplied 340 electric buses to the BEST. We manufacture and supply buses in accordance with the specifications of every tender. All buses provided to the BEST, both directly and indirectly, have a vehicle tracking device pre-installed conforming to the tender specification. For seamless integration with the Chalo App, these buses are being fitted with a different tracker. This activity is scheduled to be completed over the next two weeks, subject to the buses being made available for the requisite fittings.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, Tata Motors claimed that they share a strong working relationship with the BEST. In an email reply to Hindustan Times, a spokesperson for the vehicle manufacturer said, “Tata Motors has supplied 340 electric buses to the BEST. We manufacture and supply buses in accordance with the specifications of every tender. All buses provided to the BEST, both directly and indirectly, have a vehicle tracking device pre-installed conforming to the tender specification. For seamless integration with the Chalo App, these buses are being fitted with a different tracker. This activity is scheduled to be completed over the next two weeks, subject to the buses being made available for the requisite fittings.”
{{/usCountry}}Tata Motors claim that they have supplied over 730 electric buses across multiple cities in the country till date, cumulatively clocking more than 55 million kms. It also has a strong order book of 2,421 electric buses.
On the other hand, the BEST has a fleet of around 3,400 buses and ferries 35 lakh passengers each day. The undertaking intends to create a ‘green fleet’ and improve public transport by adding 3,000 more e-buses in the next one year.
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