Mumbai: The hybrid-electric air-conditioned buses that were procured by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and are being operated by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) are making a loss of around ₹1 crore a month.
MMRDA officials said they are concerned about the manner in which the services are being run. “The hybrid buses are incurring losses of around ₹1 crore a month, which is a huge amount. The idea was to run them on a no-profit no-loss basis. SMRT in Singapore also runs buses along with Metro, and they do not incur any losses,” a senior official said.
MMRDA officials also said they will soon hold a meeting with BEST officials to understand the reason behind the poor performance of the service. In the BEST’s budget estimates for 2018-19, the traffic earnings from theses buses were pegged at ₹24.2 crore. The fare of the hybrid AC buses is higher than that of regular buses, with the cheapest ticket costing ₹21.
BEST officials said according to the arrangement, the MMRDA would bridge the losses of the project and would keep the profits. However, MMRDA officials said they had not yet given any money to the BEST.
A senior BEST official, who did not wish to be named, said the move to restrict the ares where hybrid buses can be operated has not helped. “The MMRDA wanted the hybrid buses to serve Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), which is also the reason why they have a different numbering system. The buses could do better if we could deploy them in other areas as well,” the official said.
The 25 hybrid-electric AC buses were pressed into service in March, and have had BKC as part of their numbering system. The BEST operates these buses from Kurla, Sion and Bandra railway stations to BKC. The BEST also operates limited point-to-point services from Borivali, Thane, Kharghar and Mulund to BKC.
