BEST to hike bus fares in Mumbai: You’ll have to pay more for longer routes, monthly pass

The BEST committee on Tuesday approved a Rs1-12 hike in fare beyond six km and a steep hike of Rs50-220 for monthly passes

Prepare to pay more for your BEST bus commute. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has decided to hike its fare for longer routes, daily and monthly bus passes and passes for school children.

The BEST administration said that if its financial situation improves, this will be a temporary hike and will be rolled back. (HT File)

The BEST committee on Tuesday approved a Rs1-12 hike in fare beyond 6km and a steep hike of Rs50-220 for monthly passes.

The committee, which was earlier reluctant to increase the fare and had rejected the administration’s proposal, finally agreed after the latter cited constant losses. The proposal will now be sent to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for final approval.

The fare for 6 km, which was Rs14 earlier has been increased to Rs15; fare for 8km has been increased from Rs16 to Rs18. The daily buses pass for the entire city will cost Rs90 instead of the current Rs70. The fare for a pass for the suburbs increased from Rs50 to Rs60 and for the island city it has been increased from Rs40 to Rs50.

Post the increase in the fare for longer routes, a Shiv Sena committee member, Rajesh Kusale, suggested decreasing the fare for shorter routes. Kusale asked to decrease the base fare from Rs8 to Rs7, but the idea was rejected by the committee.

The BEST administration stated that if financial conditions improve, then this would be a temporary increase and it will be rolled back. “The increase in bus fares and passes is temporary.” said Surendrakumar Bagde, general manager, BEST.

Meanwhile, the BEST management will restructure 200 of its existing routes that are operating at losses of 40% or more.