The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has proposed a hike in its fare by a rupee for ordinary buses, and '10 for air-conditioned buses. The proposal was placed in the 2014-15 budget that was announced on Saturday. BEST has proposed the hike in view of the fact that the transport section is facing heavy losses. As per the budget presented to BEST’s standing committee, the minimum fare will be raised from '6 to '7, and that for air-conditioned buses, from '15 to '25. The proposed hike is due to costlier spare parts, fuel, operational cost, etc. The proposed hike will affect nearly 39 lakh Mumbaikars, and if the other recommendations are approved by the committee, all Mumbaikars will end up bailing out the BEST by paying a transport cess in their property tax bill. To justify the hike, the proposal has recommended new slabs according to which the fares will be increased. Thus, the new slabs will be 0-2 km, 2-4 km, 4-6 km, 6-10 km, 10-14 km, 14-20 km and 20-30 km. The current slabs are 0-2 km, 2-3 km, 3-5 km, 5-7 km, 7-10 km, 10-15 km, 10-15 km and so on. This will have a direct effect on passengers as they will have to shell out more for travelling less. The proposed increase of BEST fares will come into effect either in February when the budget is approved or possibly before that. According to Om Prakash Gupta, general manager of the undertaking, this revision will mean an increased annual revenue of '130 crore. The other proposal introduced in the budget is to levy transport cess on property tax. This move is to ensure that it keeps earning revenue after March 2016, when transport deficit loss component will be removed from the BEST power consumers’ bill. This could be the first time in over a decade that a surplus budget of '4 crore was presented. The authorities expect to overcome the deficit of the loss-making BEST by increase in passenger fares and recovery of transport deficit from its power consumers.
