The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has proposed a Rs 7.64 crore grant-in-aid to BEST to provide free travel on non-air-conditioned buses to persons with disabilities who have 40 per cent or more disability.
If approved, the scheme will mark the first BEST concession offering free travel across disability categories, rather than limiting the benefit to visually impaired passengers.
The proposal is scheduled to be placed before the BMC Standing Committee on September 9 for final approval. The scheme would expand the existing free-travel concession, which is currently available only to visually impaired passengers.
According to the proposal, the BMC will reimburse BEST for the cost of providing free travel to eligible passengers in ordinary non-AC buses. The concession will cover beneficiaries across disability categories, provided they meet the prescribed eligibility criteria.
The total proposed expenditure is INR 7,64,55,170. Of this, INR 5 crore is available under the BMC's budgetary provision for concessions and welfare measures for persons with disabilities.
The remaining INR 2.64 crore will be arranged through the reallocation of funds from other heads under the Planning Department.
The proposed allocation is substantially higher than the grant provided in the previous financial year for free travel for visually impaired passengers.
The proposal is linked to the requirement that local self-government bodies earmark at least 5 per cent of their budget for persons with disabilities.
Under guidelines issued by the Maharashtra government's Urban Development Department, concessions provided to persons with disabilities in urban public transport can be compensated through civic funding.
The BMC has accordingly proposed reimbursement to BEST for the cost of providing the free-travel concession.
The BMC has also proposed that the expenditure be monitored through financial and operational safeguards. BEST will have to submit quarterly audited bills, along with records from Electronic Ticket Issuing Machines and travel-card or identity-card data, to support its reimbursement claims.
The responsibility for verifying disability certificates and ensuring that only eligible beneficiaries receive the concession will rest with BEST.
The undertaking will be required to strictly check the documents submitted by persons with disabilities before extending the free-travel benefit. This is intended to ensure that the subsidy reaches only eligible passengers.
The reimbursement will be processed through the civic body's computerised system in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Municipal Act.
The proposed concession will apply to ordinary non-air-conditioned BEST buses. AC buses will not be covered under the scheme.
The minimum fare on non-AC BEST buses is currently Rs 10, while the minimum fare on AC services is Rs 12.
BEST currently operates a fleet of around 2,829 buses, including approximately 620 non-AC buses.
The scheme could potentially benefit a large number of commuters. According to the 2011 Census, Mumbai had around 3.4 lakh persons with disabilities.
The proposal comes as BEST continues to rely heavily on financial assistance from the BMC.
The civic body has earmarked Rs 1,000 crore annually for BEST in 2025-26 and 2026-27, compared with Rs 850 crore in 2024-25.
The latest free-travel proposal also comes amid a decline in the BMC's fixed-deposit reserves. Civic data shows that the corporation's overall fixed deposits fell from Rs 91,690 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 81,449 crore in 2024-25, a decline of more than Rs 10,000 crore.
Despite the financial pressures, the BMC has proposed expanding the BEST concession to cover persons with disabilities across categories, marking a significant extension of the existing benefit.