A private media company has violated its contract with the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking by failing to instal bullet-proof film on the windows of 270 buses,a committee member alleged on Monday. Topway Multitrade had signed a contract with the undertaking for advertising rights on 270 buses in exchange for maintenance of the glasses and installation of bullet-proof film,committee member Sanjay Potnis said in the BEST committee meeting on Monday. However,General Manager,BEST,OP Gupta said the contract signed with Topway did not spell out the installation of bullet-proof film on the glasses of the buses. The contract probably said the company would instal a glass protection system and did not use the word bulletproof, he said. Still,I will have to find out what the committee proposal was as against what the contract ultimately said. Potnis added,Its been about a year-and-a-half and they havent installed bullet-proof film on a single bus,while they have been enjoying the advertising rights. The issue was raised after a regular tender for the installation of laminated and toughened glasses came up for discussion. A Topway official said,the company had fulfilled its obligations as part of the contract. The company was supposed to maintain glasses of the 270 air-conditioned buses,get the advertising rights and pay the undertaking Rs 5,000 per month for each bus. The company was also supposed to instal a blast protection film,and not a bullet protection film,said Tushar Gogri,a partner with the firm. We got access to only 252 buses and had installed the film on the glasses of all the buses given to us, Gogri said. In fact,we were given the buses in September 2009 to instal the film,while the advertising contract came into effect only in January 2010. A blast protection film with a thickness of about 0.5mm does not keep the glass from cracking,but prevents stones and shrapnel from penetrating the windows. Gogri said,the contract has been suspended for the past six months after the Regional Transport Office directed the undertaking that the visibility through the glasses of all the buses should be at least 50 per cent.
