It’s curtains for BEST half-ticket rule

A BEST officer said that considering the overall reduction in fares from July this year, the half-ticket facility has been cancelled.

While there is no clarity on whether the system has ended for good, a few officers, while speaking to The Asian Age, hinted that the facility would never start again.

Jayashree Khadtare from Ghatkopar, said, “I was happy to know that the BEST has reduced its fares but did not like their decision to remove the half-ticket system. They need to welcome future passengers by continuing their half-ticket system.”

“We came to know about cancellation of half-ticket system last weekend while travelling from Ghatkopar to Kalamboli. We were shocked to know that we have to pay full amount for our little one. We had decided to travel by bus to cut down on travel expenses,” she said.

BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya said, “Because the fare has been reduced, they might have stopped the half-ticket system. But it is unfair to end the facility, which had started for kids. I hope that they will resume the system in future. We will raise a demand for half-ticket.”