Temporary Bus drivers cause lasting distress

Daily wage BEST drivers, hired to cut costs, increase annual maintenance costs by Rs 5 cr instead

BEST*s decision to hire daily wage drivers has come back to haunt them.

The drivers, who had been hired on daily wage to cut costs, have instead increased the undertaking*s expenditures, mostly through maintenance costs.


BEST officials complained about the lack of responsibility on the drivers* part because of the temporary nature of their employment

Last year, the annual maintenance cost of air-conditioned buses was Rs 1.5 crore and for regular buses, it was Rs 16 crore. However, this year these numbers have increased to Rs 4.5 crore and Rs 18 crore respectively.

The drivers are paid Rs 250 daily and the conductors are paid Rs 200 daily. This is lesser than the monthly salary of permanently employed drivers who get paid Rs 10,000 upwards, depending on their work experience.

BEST officials point to the inexperience of these drivers in handling heavy buses, causing damages to them.

The officials also complained about the lack of responsibility on the drivers* part because of the temporary nature of their employment.

The downside

Sunil Ganacharya, BEST committee member, said, "Earlier, most drivers worked on the same bus for a few months and promptly identified any faults in the bus that could be rectified immediately, hence saving costs.
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But new drivers use the bus everyday without even knowing the faults and problems in it. Due to the poor maintenance of buses, passengers could face some shortage."

Besides the increased costs, officials also blame the daily wage drivers for the high rate of accidents involving BEST buses. 43 fatal accidents were reported for the whole of 2009, while this year, it has already reached 45.
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Suhas Samant, BEST committee member, said, "It is a fact that daily wage drivers drive roughly because they are temporary and therefore lack responsibility."

To stem this trend, out of the 4,500 daily wage employees, BEST has recruited 1,500 of them as junior drivers and conductors. They will be sent for a 15-day training session and only then allowed to drive.

The undertaking has also received repeated complaints from commuters regarding the breakdown of buses.
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"The electronic display doesn*t work and a lot of noise keeps coming from the AC. We are tired of making complaints.

Most of my friends have stopped travelling by Kinglong. They charge more but give very bad service," said Janak Lal, a Kinglong passenger from Andheri.

BEST Numbers
No of AC buses: 272
No of regular buses: 4,500
No of BEST drivers and conductors (staff): 8,000
No of BEST drivers and conductors (daily wages): 4,500
No of depots: 25
No of daily passengers: 44 lakh

The Other Side

However, BEST General Manager, O P Gupta denied any such facts regarding daily wage drivers and conductors.

"The number of buses has increased. I don*t think that the daily wage drivers are the reason for increasing the maintenance expenses," said Gupta.

Sharad Rao, General Secretary BEST workers union, agreed with Gupta. "I don*t think that accidents and maintenance cost have increased just because of the daily wage drivers and conductors.
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There are several other reasons like the heavy traffic, narrow roads etc. Yes they do drive roughly but they don*t have any option."