dna exclusive: You will no longer have to get off a BEST bus for lack of change

The next time you travel in a BEST bus and don’t have the required change for your ticket, the conductor cannot ask you to get off the bus, nor can he issue a slip asking you to collect the entire balance amount from the Wadala bus depot.

In a circular issued by its transport wing, BEST bus conductors have been informed that passengers should be paid whatever nearest change is available to them and for the balance, a slip should be issued asking to collect it from the Wadala depot.

For example, if you have a Rs500 note and the fare is Rs6, the refund comes to Rs494. Now, the conductor will have to refund the nearest amount available with him, for instance Rs450. For the remaining amount, that is Rs44, he will issue a slip from the Electronic Ticket Issuing Machine (ETIM), authorising you to collect the money from Wadala depot four days from the travelling date.

If the ETIM is not working, the conductor will mention refund details on the reverse of the ticket with his signature, for the passenger to claim the amount.

“There is a possibility that the commuter could be carrying only Rs500. If the conductor does not return whatever change is available, then the passenger will be left with no money in his pocket. Although a certain amount of change is given to all conductors, it is observed that change-related issues come up quite frequently,” said a BEST official.

BEST spokesperson Virendra Bagul confirmed that such a circular has been issued on August 29 to conductors in a move to make the organisation more passenger-friendly.