Fuelled by losses

'Over-filling' gas at unauthorised filling stations is causing BEST a loss of Rs 50,000 per day

Fuelled by losses

'Over-filling' gas at unauthorised filling stations is causing BEST a loss of Rs 50,000 per day

Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) is facing losses and here is the reason why: on an average, it is paying an additional Rs 50,000 per day for extra fuel that is only on paper, said a senior official from BEST.
BEST buses have different fuel capacities pertaining to their respective models. A few have a capacity of 96 kg fuel while some have a maximum 127 kg fuel capacity.

Cracking down: Depot managers have been asked to keep a tab on fuel
consumption and report any anomalies to senior authorities. File Pic

"It has been noticed in the past few months that the buses are being filled over capacity. For instance, if a bus has a capacity of 10 kg, it is being filled with 12 kg fuel as per the receipts," said a senior official from BEST. "Initially, we ignored it thinking it might be in a few buses but later we realised it was happening in almost all the buses which are filled at unauthorised gas stations."

Monitoring authorities noticed this discrepancy and sent a letter to all the depots on November 26 asking them to inform if such cases were noticed.

After the authorities realised the discrepancy, they asked Mahanagar Gas Ltd (MGL) for a reason for overfuelling the buses. MGL replied saying over fuelling happens because of the presence of methane in the fuel.

The letter sent by the BEST reads, "Recently, a few cases have come to notice where gas consumed is abnormally high in buses that are fuelled at private gas stations. During an investigation, it was found that the CNG requisitions are signed by the Undertaking's drivers after verifying the gas consumption at dispenser."

BEST buses get fuel filled for the day from specific gas stations every day. "To avoid any manipulation, we have placed an inspector each at every fuelling station to keep a check. Also, after the fuel has been filled, the driver has to sign the receipt confirming the quantity and rate," said the official.

One inspector monitors around 200 buses at the time of fuelling. The depot officers have been instructed to be vigilant and monitor the fuelling activity carried out at private fuelling stations. "We have told the depot managers to strictly verify the consumption of fuel and if any over capacity fuelling is found in any bus, it should be immediately informed to the senior authorities," said the official.

BEST officials are not ruling out aspects like fraud from their own staff, leakage in the buses and others.
"It was found out in the past that few buses are filled over their actual capacity for fuel. We have issued a letter to the depots for keeping a check on the fuelling stations," said Sanjay Potnis, BEST committee chairman. "There must be some technical problem. We are looking out for the fault." The spokesperson of MGL did not reply to repeated phone calls.

Rs 31

The rate of CNG per kg for BEST undertaking

Theu00a0CNG connection

The CNG buses were introduced a few years back by BEST. At present, BEST has around 4,700 buses, out of which 2,835 are CNG buses. The BEST has nine authorised CNG filling stations at Wadala, Anik, P Nagar, Deonar, Magathane, Dindoshi, Majas, Oshiwara and Santacruz. Out of 2,835 CNG buses, 800 BEST buses get fuel from gas u00a0stations other than the authorised ones.

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