Due to a flash strike by drivers over unpaid payments, about 300 buses belonging to Mumbai's civic transport operation BEST remained off the road on Thursday, causing significant inconvenience to passengers. BET has leased these minibuses from a private contractor, according to reports.
The minibus services operating out of Bandra, Kurla, and Vikhroli depots were hampered by the strike, according to Manoj Varade, a spokeswoman for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) project.
He said that the municipal transportation agency would be unable to operate 308 bus routes during the day. BEST, on the other hand, operated 113 extra buses to prevent causing commuters any inconvenience.
Since Tuesday morning, most drivers of MP Group, the contractor from whom BEST has leased buses, have been absent from work, protesting the non-payment of salary at three of BEST's five depots.
On the first day of the riot, over 160 of the 275 minibuses were off the road. The MP Group drivers have gone on strike for the second time in less than a month. They were also absent from work on April 22. With a fleet of roughly 3,500 buses, including those rented from private contractors, the BEST project transports around 30 lakh commuters every day.