If fare is not hiked,BEST will suffer additional loss of Rs 60 crore

In his second month as the General Manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking,Om Prakash Gupta has proposed a hike in the bus fares.

In his second month as the General Manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking,Om Prakash Gupta has proposed a hike in the bus fares. Over 4.5 lakh commuters use BEST buses everyday and the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-controlled undertaking has put off the decision on the fare hike till Mondays bandh,hoping that Centre rolls back the price hike. Prashant Rangnekar spoke to Gupta about the imminent fare hike and more.

Why has the BEST administration proposed the hike?
With the hike in the CNG and diesel prices,the decision to increase the BEST fare was obvious. We intend to increase the fare by Rs 2. The BEST is already facing a loss of over Rs 300 crore every year and if the fares are not increased the losses would increase by another Rs 60 crore. In the given circumstance,there is little we can do. We have submitted the fare hike proposal to the BEST committee.

How has the corridor system fared?
It is a new concept and will gain popularity with time. It is similar to a train service. A bus will run every five minutes in the corridor. At present,we have buses running along four corridors that are operational. By September,all the 17 corridors should be operational. In future,we intend to run one air-conditioned bus after two ordinary buses on every corridor

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How does the BEST plan to compete with monorail and Metro?
Why should we compete? If there is duplication of service then something is really wrong. We would be supplementing them.

The BEST was at loggerheads with the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT),but it is the commuter who suffers.
I agree,but there wont be any issues henceforth. I have already spoken to the NMMT officials. In spite of BEST buses,autos and taxis,there is still the need of more transport services. In any case,if there are services from NMMT or any other transport unit,they are welcome as it is only going to benefit the people.

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If fare is not hiked,BEST will suffer additional loss of Rs 60 crore

In his second month as the General Manager of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking,Om Prakash Gupta has proposed a hike in the bus fares.

If fare is not hiked,BEST will suffer additional loss of Rs 60 crore