As per information provided to RTI applicant Anil Galgali for the year 2015-16, BEST's earnings per passenger stand at Rs12.88, while its expenditure is Rs21.41.
It's not news that the city's second lifeline when it comes to transport — BEST buses — has been running in losses. What is though is that the Undertaking has been earning half as much as it should with respect to per passenger cost.
As per information provided to RTI applicant Anil Galgali for the year 2015-16, BEST's earnings per passenger stand at Rs12.88, while its expenditure is Rs21.41. The cost and earnings were calculated from 106 crore passengers who used the bus service — the revenue generated was Rs1,367.11 crore, while the operational expenses stood at Rs2,272.41 crore. The losses stood at Rs905.3 crore.
The BEST, in its reply, also said that in the same year, it paid taxes to the tune of Rs136 crore. Its general manager, Jagdish Patil, said the Undertaking suffered losses largely due to fuel congestion and number of trips, which have reduced over a period of time.
"Due to congestion, a lot of fuel is wasted. Our travel time has reduced to half of what it used to be earlier and congestion has doubled. One bus should ideally complete over 200km, but it sometimes covers only 170km. The BEST cannot save fuel, nor can it increase the kilometres. Also, the frequency has reduced because the fleet has reduced over a period of time. Around 1,000 buses were scrapped."
Patil added that over and above that, intervention from political parties and high taxes were also impeding the process to reduce expenses while generating extra revenue. "Political parties do not allow us to decrease the routes. There are routes that do not even get us Rs20, but we have to spend Rs100. From our end, we have reduced posts. We have surrendered 2,000 posts, and this year we are proposing a further reduction of 1,000. I have also given a notice to the union to freeze dearness allowance. We have reduced personal allowance to all, including the general manager, by one-third of what it used to be."
Patil said the other problem was of the fall in revenue from advertisements that the BEST banked on heavily. "Taxes on advertisement have increased. Even RTO has increased tax on advertising from Rs200 to Rs1,000. That is a 500% percent jump. We are not getting the kind of revenue we expect from ads. Advertising from tobacco was a major market; that has been banned. Mobile companies have stopped advertising and banks have reduced it to half. All these factors contribute to less revenue. On the other hand, we are also making our fleet competitive to attract customers. AC buses fares were reduced to half because they were more as compared to Navi Mumbai buses on the same route. We have also introduced passes in it."
"The government should help the BEST in this critical time as it is an important fleet and needs to do well," said Galgali.
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