BEST way to throw a wedding bash

Mumbai: This wedding season, take your guests for a tour of Mumbai in an open double-decker  BEST bus before dropping them off at the reception venue. Reason being BEST has decided to officially allow renting of its buses for 12 to 24 hours while letting you treat your relatives to a tour of the city.

An open deck will cost Rs 23,000 for 24 hours and Rs 14,000 for half-a-day. While a single deck will cost Rs 12,800 for 24 hours and Rs 6,900 for half-a-day.

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) is also ready for a city tour for your out-of-town relatives or those who live in Mumbai but haven’t been on a Mumbai darshan for a long time.

The idea came about with BEST trying to earn revenue from avenues other than ticketing as it has been suffering severe losses, causing it to cancel an order for procurement of buses mid-way.

The undertaking cancelled the order for 118 buses out of 303 new, non air-conditioned buses as its financial problems led to delayed salaries to conductors and drivers for the past two months.

BEST public relations officer, Hanumant Gophane, said, “This offer has been started from May 1 and we have put out advertisements in the papers, where we have asked for people interested to mail us or call on the toll-free number.”

Marine Drive, Gateway of India, Chowpatty and Siddhivinayak Temple are some of the spots on the bus tour.

Like Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport, western railway (WR) too has been mulling renting out its platforms for wedding parties on lean days.

Surat station, which has the biggest available infrastructure, is being considered for the purpose.