Navi Mumbai commuters to face the brunt of BEST fare hike

Almost 2.5 lakh residents of Navi Mumbai, Thane and other extended suburbs in the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR) will be hit hard by the BEST’s bus fare hike, as they will also have to shoulder the additional burden of the toll tax levied on BEST buses at Dahisar, Mulund, Vashi and Airoli toll plazas.

“Commuters travelling to all destinations outside Mumbai’s city limits will have to pay an additional tax of Re1 on tickets for all journeys. Since we cannot charge toll tax, we are including it in the ticket price. We pay Rs 2.5 lakh in toll everyday and almost an equivalent number of commuters from MMR areas commute in BEST buses. So, this additional charge will more or less compensate the costs incurred at toll plazas,” said Om Prakash Gupta, general manager, BEST.

But, there is no clarity on which commuters will suffer the most. The BEST administration says there will be a blanket charge on all buses, but corporators claim that only tickets of AC buses plying long distances will be overpriced.