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The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking wants a toll waiver on buses crossing Mumbai limits. BEST Chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao has written to Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde — who also holds the Urban Development, Housing, and Public Works portfolios — about the mounting financial stress on the public transport undertaking due to tolls. The demand comes at a time when BEST continues to grapple with financial constraints even as it expands services across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.

What BEST says…

>> Daily services are being operated on 40 routes connecting Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mira-Bhayandar using 382 buses
>> Waiver will make tickets cheaper and attract more passengers to services

A BEST ticket with added toll charge, PIC/NIMESH DAVE

Reasons BEST wants waiver…

>> The undertaking functions as a public service provider on a no-profit-no-loss basis
>> It is currently running in deficit
>> Toll charges are putting pressure, adding to financial stress
>> Toll fees have been revoked for private cars, so why are public transport buses being charged?

Bureaucrat Speak

Trushna Vishwasrao, BEST chairperson

A BEST official
The BEST would earlier charge `1 as toll from commuters. After the bus fare was slashed to `5 by adding all the concessions in 2019, the toll was waived as part of the concessions. But since all the concessions were withdrawn in 2025, the toll waiver, too, has gone’

A BEST official
‘We have already sent a proposal to the government seeking a waiver. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has got a waiver, but not BEST buses. We are in constant touch with the state government regarding the matter and hope to get a waiver soon’