In running 124 buses in Mumbai daily, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) loses Rs 2.55 crore on an average each day.
The BEST had recently come out with these numbers in late March to understand the latest financial scenario of running public transport bus services and included numbers until January this year.
According to the findings (a copy of which is with this newspaper) the undertaking has been earning up to Rs 3.73 crore — but also spending Rs 6.28 crore every day — in running its fleet. Factors such as maintenance of buses, fuel and wages for its drivers and conductors are included in the expenses.
Recently, there have been demands by the public at large that the undertaking decrease its minimum fare back to Rs 6 from Rs 8, an increase that was brought about in the last fare hike on April 1 last year. But the BEST has, in its own roundabout way, said that this was not possible. “According to statistics, the undertaking has been earning Rs 13 and spending Rs 22 per commuter. The increasing maintenance cost and limited profits have created a vicious circle, resulting in severe losses,” said the report.
The same report goes on to talk about the fact that a tiny number of commuters have further pulled down the average occupancy, and thereby the undertaking’s profits, on a bigger scale. The occupancy of the buses from Monday to Friday is as much as 90 per cent but when Saturday and Sunday is taken into account, it drops by more than 10 per cent, that is 87 per cent overall, explained the report.
The report further states that on account of it being a public service undertaking, buses have to be provided on the weekends too, even though they have observed that during this time commuters usually travel in private vehicles with their families.
