Praveen Pardeshi

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking will have to reduce losses or shut down services, said Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi, under whose watch Mumbai’s iconic red buses are trying to script a turnaround. He spoke to The Indian Express about the challenges that lie ahead for the undertaking. Excerpts from an interview:

It has been eight months since you first set targets for BEST to improve its efficiency while granting financial aid. How satisfied are you with the progress?

Since we rolled out our plan, total commuters per day have increased from 22 lakh to 34 lakh, which is a substantial increase. We had set a target of inducting 1,000 buses on a wet lease, of which we have managed to induct 350 so far. Others will be delivered by contractors and we are hopeful of hitting the 1,000-mark by next month. I am satisfied with the cost reduction exercise. These new buses are running without conductors and it is a massive cost saving exercise. There are areas such as the intelligent transport management system (ITMS), which needs work. But now we are tying up with Google and once the entire system is integrated, passengers will benefit as they will know when the next bus will arrive.

The bus services without conductors have received a lot of flak for putting undue pressure on BEST employees and causing inconvenience to passengers.

We have to opt for bus services without conductors for BEST. Buses in London operate without conductors. The other option is to shut down BEST altogether. People don’t understand that with losses running into Rs 2,000 crore, nobody can look after BEST. Losses have to be brought down to, say, Rs 400 crore to 500 crore. The BMC can give out that kind of cross-subsidy, but not Rs 2,000 crore. So, how will BEST get to Rs 500 crore from Rs 2,000 crore? You have to understand that it is not for a year or two, it has to be on a sustained basis. How will that be done? By either cutting down on fuel cost or manpower. Fuel prices are fixed and BEST can’t do anything about it. So, it has to bring down manpower cost. Now, we are trying to promote digital ticketing where passengers can buy tickets from multiple online platforms. With this, the role of the conductor will be minimal.

But BEST has adopted digital ticketing with Ridlr for a while now.

Yes, but the digital ticketing was only with Ridlr app and combined with other popular apps such as Google Pay, PayTM and Rupay. I want to make it available through numerous digital apps so that passengers can use any to make their payment.

What do you think BEST needs to immediately focus on in the next one year? What does the undertaking lack?

Asset monetisation is a massive issue but it’s not their problem but a legacy issue. In the past, most assets of BEST were given away at low rentals, so now we have to find a new way to monetise them at higher rates in line with market rates. There is a certain percentage of commercial space allowed at bus stations that have been rented out at throwaway prices. We want to bring them back to commercial rates to generate additional revenue.

Are you also looking at commercial exploitation of BEST plots?

For the new plots that are not fully developed, yes. We will like to have BEST developing its own depot and then whatever is the surplus floor space index, it can be used for commercial purposes that will bring in a constant annual income. The BEST can engage a commercial partner for it. It has quite a few plots in the new Development Plan and has been asked to make a list of commercial plots that already have users and those that they want to do afresh.

Are you in favour of dedicated lanes to make longer routes more viable?

Yes, but it will come in the second phase. We first want to make the services more efficient. Once we have an efficient fleet, then we can have dedicated lanes. It’s not just about feeders. Until the Metro comes up, BEST can lap up a lot of commuters on long routes.

What immediate changes do you want to see in BEST?

Our first and most important target is to increase the fleet to 1,000 and then make the ITMS app one of the best in the world. If we do these two things, client services will largely improve.