The re-introduction of paper tickets on Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses has added to the worries of conductors as the administration has been providing them with canvas pouches with tickets as opposed to the metal boxes that have been for years associated with bus tickets.
Shiv Sena corporator and leader of the BEST Kamgar Sena, Suhas Samant of the BEST Committee raised the issue during a meeting on Tuesday. “Our conductors have been forced to create makeshift ticket boxes as the canvas pouches provided by the administration is flimsy. Complete ticket blocks very often give way, which is then recovered from bus conductors’ salaries,” he said. He demanded that the administration provide ticket boxes as it once did.
The canvas pouches have compartments for ticket blocks as well as slots to keep change. Earlier the administration used to provide a metal box for tickets and a canvas pouch for change, which would be slung on each shoulder. “In the combined pouch, we need to be very careful as the there is always the risk of loose change falling down, when we tear a ticket. Moreover, the box is deeper and hence the tickets are protected from the crowd. Very often, tickets get torn when commuters brush past us,” said a conductor on condition of anonymity. He added that several conductors had bought boxes from their own savings. “It’s better than losing money daily,” he said.
BEST Committee Chairman Ashish Chemburkar asked the General Manager to solve the issue as soon as possible and make sure conductors are able to dispense tickets in crowded buses as well.
BEST has had to revert to paper tickets as their contract with Trimax IT Infrastructure for the supply and maintenance of the Electronic Ticket Issuing Machines (ETIM) was not renewed. The contractor moved to court, which has granted a stay on the opening of fresh bids. Of 9,300 machines in possession of BEST, sources said around 70% are defective.
