MUMBAI, February 5: The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) is still wrestling with the problem of dealing with private bus operators who pick up passengers from BEST bus stops. Except this time, they have intensified the vigil.The BEST which undertook this drive against private buses in 1990, seized 11 such buses on January 28, this year. BEST inspectors detected that private buses plying in Ghatkopar (west) were violating the rules by picking up passengers and carrying them to different destinations.All the 11 buses were rounded up and later taken to the Chirag Nagar police station where they were charged under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Act. A BEST spokesperson said that these buses transported passengers without having the licence for a stage carriage service and hence were illegal.The spokesperson, explaining the procedure for nabbing the offenders said, BEST inspectors observe the private buses which pick up passengers from the BEST busstops. The next day, these inspectors in plain clothes, board the bus and buy tickets with marked currency notes. The driver and the operator are then taken to the police station where a deposit ranging between Rs 500 and Rs 1000 is taken from them. They are then produced before the Court.The spokesperson said, the driver sometimes ply the bus without the owner's knowledge. A separate complaint is also being made to the Regional Transport Authority who issue contract carriage permits for these operators. The BEST undertaking proposes to organise such drives at different places in the city with the RTA officers help, the spokesperson informed. Till date, nearly 100 private buses have been seized.
