Bus rides in the city will get cheaper from Tuesday as the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking will implement the new fare structure. The public transport operator got a green signal from the transport department late on Monday night to go ahead with the plan.
Under the new structure, fares of buses will range from ₹5 to ₹20 for regular buses and between ₹5 and ₹25 for air-conditioned buses. There will be only four slabs: 0 to 5 km, 5 to 10 km, 10 to 15 km, and 15 km and above. The minimum fare for regular buses in the earlier structure was ₹8 for the first 2 km and had nearly 15 slabs.
BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde said the new fare system comes into effect on Tuesday.
After getting the green signal, officials said they are working to calibrate nearly 5,000 ticket issuing machines. The BEST is also planning to induct new buses in its fleet in the coming weeks.
The fare revision is part of a slew of measures asked by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to be implemented in return for the financial assistance. The reduced fare is meant to attract people back to the city’s iconic red buses, which used to ferry nearly 42 lakh passengers daily around a decade ago. At present, only about 25 lakh passengers use the service daily, owing largely to its poor frequency.