Mumbai: RTO sees (only) red!

An electric double-decker bus in south Mumbai on February 21. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

The newly-introduced electric double-decker buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) have a red-and-black exterior, but due to an oversight, they have been registered as red in colour, "signal red" to be precise, in the Regional Transport Office (RTO) records.

If the actual colour of any vehicle is different from that mentioned in the RTO record or the nationwide ‘Vahan' online database, it is considered an "alteration in vehicle", and a court can impose a fine of Rs 5,000 on the vehicle owner and that of R1 lakh on the manufacturer or dealer under the Motor Vehicles Act, said an
RTO official.

The EV double-deckers started plying on city roads six months ago as a replacement for the old double-decker buses running on diesel.

A vehicle owner is not supposed to alter its appearance without permission, but in this case, it was the RTO authority that entered the wrong description in the record, which, according to some RTO officials, is a serious case of negligence.

Till now, BEST has received 24 new double-decker buses from Switch Mobility, a subsidiary of Ashok Leyland. The prototype was unveiled in August 2022. Of these 24 new buses, the first nine buses were registered at Vashi RTO in Thane district, while the remaining buses were registered at Tardeo RTO in Mumbai.

As per the Vahan database, the colour of all these buses is registered as ‘signal red', though the actual bus has a red-and-black scheme.

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