‘More than 10 standees? Driver will take bus to police station’

Attempting to enter a packed BEST bus after October 20 may just see you end up at a police station.

Attempting to enter a packed BEST bus after October 20 may just see you end up at a police station.

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Sharad Rao, general secretary of BEST Workers’ Union, said, on Wednesday: “From October 21 onwards I will ask drivers and conductors of my union to take the bus straight to the nearest police station if the number of standees is more than ten and passengers don’t heed requests to get down.”

There are 3,500 BEST drivers and conductors of the 20,000-odd drivers and conductors working for BEST.

According to Rao, if the conductor finds that the number of standees is more than stipulated, he has the right to ask passengers to get down and catch the next empty bus. If the passenger refuses, the driver will take the bus to the nearest police station.

However, BEST sources feel this is an absurd move as buses are usually crowded during peak hours and it is impossible for people to wait for an empty bus to come to the bus stop.

“At least 20 standees are allowed inside a BEST bus and Rao is just creating anti-public sentiment,” said a BEST official, on condition of anonymity, as he did not wish to be identified.

On October 4, nearly 2,300 daily wage drivers and conductors struck work, as they wanted the BEST administration to meet their demands of inducting them into the organisation.

They also made the demand of restricting the number of standees inside BEST buses to 10 under the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.