The BJP-Sena alliance at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation decided to give a go-ahead to the proposed fare hike of BEST buses in the general body meeting on Tuesday.
The BJP-Sena alliance at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation decided to give a go-ahead to the proposed fare hike of BEST buses in the general body meeting on Tuesday.
From February, the fare will be hiked by Re1, with another Re1 hike expected in April.
In order to delay the proposed fare hike, the BEST administration had long been asking for assistance of an additional Rs150 crore from the civic body. During the election period last year, the BMC had approved Rs150 crore to give to the BEST.
"Even after that, BEST buses continued to make losses. Because the mounting loan amount had reached up to Rs3,000 crore, the fare hike was approved," a Sena corporator said.
After coming in power, the BJP too had shown interest to help the BEST Undertaking.
However, the decision has not gone down well with the opposition parties. They staged a walkout from the meeting after the proposal was approved.
Leader of opposition in the BMC, Devendra Amberkar, said the civic body is only looking at getting revenue from Mumbaikars without providing them adequate services. "There were other ways, like commercialising of BEST depots to bring it out of loss. After neglecting the BEST for so many years, suddenly fares can't be hiked to get even," he said.
Third hike in 4 years
From 2000 to 2010, cost of fuel increased but the minimum fare of BEST was Rs4. During this period, the BEST Undertaking's loss reached Rs3,508 crore. Of this, Rs1,200 crore was recovered through various channels, the rest is expected to be recovered by 2016.
What's in the budget?
The administration expects that the BEST Undertaking will start making profit in the 2015-16 financial year. From a budget of Rs946.32 crore, Rs210.61 crore will be used for improving salary grades of workers and Rs735.70 crore to repay bank loan. Provision of Rs345.16 crore is for the care of the buses.
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