Backlash forces BEST to review decision

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) will review its decision to cancel 52 out of 500 routes following protest by nearly 50 corporators who marched down to its Colaba office on Monday, a day after cancellation was implemented.

The BEST committee on April 29 saw heated discussion, with the management questioning how such a decision had been taken at the last minute and some members staging a walkout. Nevertheless, BEST on May 1 said it would go ahead with cancellation despite protest from committee members, and took clearance from BEST Workers Union headed by Shashank Rao for the same. However, BEST general manager, Jagdish Patil, in a U-turn on Monday, said that the cancelled routes would be restarted in a phased manner in the coming three to four days. “The corporators came and met me today afternoon and they have asked that the routes not be cancelled as a lot of commuters are facing a lot of trouble while travelling as a result of cancellation of these routes,” said Mr Patil.

The cancelled routes will be reviewed over a period of three months. “We will basically look at how these routes are responding after we restart them and if we see improved patronage in some, then we might reconsider,” he added.

The decision to cancel 52 out of 500 routes all at once was unprecedented in the history of BEST and some officials said it was taken since the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) had barred BEST from taking Transport Deficit Loss Recovery (TDLR) from its power consumers anymore.

Meanwhile, BEST officials are not too happy with the decision to review cancellation of these 52 routes. “It is a well-known fact that BEST will be suffering a lot of losses from these routes; they cost us Rs 100 per km but get us only 30 paise in earnings,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

When contacted, Mr Rao denied receiving any communication about BEST’s change in stance. “As of now, I have only heard that the cancellation has been postponed but I have not heard anything from BEST management,” he said. Mr Rao said that he would look at the letter once it was sent and then take a decision.