Wet leasing of buses, one of the key proposals that the administration has highlighted in its plan to revive the ailing Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), may not improve the undertaking’s financial situation, a study has found.
The study conducted by the Research Unit of Political Economy (RUPE) said wet leasing would not help finances of the the undertaking. The proposal to procure buses on a wet lease model has been one of the conditions that the BEST administration was asked to fulfil by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in order to get financial aid.
The report said as per the contract, the contractor would need to run buses for 160 km a day. “If we look at the cost of existing BEST buses running 160 km or more a day, it emerges that the cost of contracting out would be around 6% lower. This is a trivial saving.”
The report highlighted that the BEST’s revenue may also reduce as mini and midi buses don’t have the regular carrying capacity of the regular buses, while the staff requirement remains the same. “Contracting does not appear to prevent falling ridership or rising losses in Pune, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore,” the report said.
In February last year, the Industrial Court had granted a stay on the BEST administration’s proposal to wet lease 450,200 AC mini-buses, 200 non-AC mini-buses, and 50 non-AC midi buses. Under the wet lease model, a contractor would be appointed to provide buses and drivers and take care of their maintenance.
RUPE is part of the Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST collective, which is a citizen-run initiative to save the BEST. “Experience of wet leasing in other cities has been far from encouraging. For the BMC to say wet leasing is the only option is completely missing the core issues that affect the BEST such as declining ridership and having dedicated corridors,” Hussain Indorewala, co-convenor of Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, said.
BEST unions have said the attempt to wet lease is another way to privatise the transport undertaking.
