BEST may hike bus fares by Rs 2 next week……Somit Sen
MUMBAI: The BEST committee, which was all set to hike bus fares from Monday, has postponed its decision by a week. The bus fares in Mumbai were likely to go up by Rs 2.
Committee chairperson Sanjay Potnis said he wants to explore other options before clearing the proposal. “Firstly, our team will meet CM Ashok Chavan to demand an exemption from all state taxes. This could save us Rs 20 crore in nutrition tax and Rs 35 crore on road and other taxes. Any subsidy/grant from the state could help us overcome our current deficit of more than Rs 410 crore.” The deficit increased from Rs 151 crore in 2002-03 to Rs 364 crore in 2006-07 and Rs 351 crore in 2007-08.
Secondly, we would approach the Centre and state to pay pending bills to the tune of Rs 90 crore. “Under JNNURM, we have procured 1,000 new buses with a 50% subsidy from the Centre and state. Of the Rs 141 crore, the government has paid only Rs 51 crore. We are yet to receive the remaining Rs 90 crore,” Potnis said. He added that the third option would be to request the BMC to sanction Rs 100 crores -earmarked annually for transportation fund-to the BEST for three consecutive years.
“This money can be used for running buses in Mumbai/Thane/Navi Mumbai, and to lighten our burden of Rs 60 crores after the recent fuel price hike,” he said.
During the meeting, Congress corporators staged a walkout protesting the fare hike proposal. Sena’s Suhas Samant said that BEST had not hiked fares since 2005, and a couple of years ago, it had reduced fare on feeder routes by one rupee.