Mumbai, Sep 6 (PTI) There is a mismatch between the actual colour of the new premium service buses of the civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses plying in Mumbai, and their description in the records of the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs).
The RTOs at Thane, Vashi and Borivali have registered at least a dozen diesel-run premium buses, manufactured by Bharat Benz, as “traffic white” in colour between December 2022 to April 2023, though their actual exterior is blue with an orange graphic.
The record of any registered vehicle can be seen on the `Vahan’ portal of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Similarly, at least two dozen “red and black” AC double decker e-buses, manufactured by Switch Mobility, have been inducted in the BEST fleet this year; but their colour has been described as “signal red” in the records of the Tardeo and Vashi RTOs.
BEST launched its premium bus service last December mainly to provide connectivity to the airport and business districts from the distant suburbs. At present, 100 premium buses are plying on the Mumbai roads.
Of them, 44 diesel-run buses are of Bharat Benz-make, while the remaining 56 electric buses are of JBM (36) and Switch Mobility (20).
Registration of new transport vehicles (like buses and trucks) is the responsibility of Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVI) posted at RTOs.
If the actual colour of a vehicle is different from that mentioned in its RTO record or in the Vahan system, it amounts to “alteration in vehicle”, and a court can impose a fine of up to Rs 5,000 on a vehicle owner and up to Rs 1 lakh on a manufacturer/ dealer under sections 52(1) and 182 A (1) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The mismatch in the actual colour and the records in the present case is a result of serious negligence, some RTO officials said.
When contacted, Hemangini Patil, deputy Regional Transport Officer at the Vashi RTO, said the colour of the premium service BEST buses was mentioned as “traffic white” as per the `homologation data’ (information provided by the manufacturer).
Officials at the Thane and Borivali RTOs did not respond to questions about the apparent discrepancy.
While 12 buses have been registered as “traffic white”, the remaining premium buses have been described in RTO records as different shades of blue or a combination of blue and another colour: Red and Blue, Blue and Orange, Navy blue, Royal blue, Royal Metallic blue, Blue Deep Ocean and “Blue Lilac RAL 4005”.
In reality, all the buses have the same colour scheme.
A senior motor vehicle inspector who did not want to be named said that if the manufacturer’s data and the actual colour were different, the inspectors should have either refused to register the buses, or asked the bus owner to get the change in the colour scheme authorised as per the procedure.
Despite repeated attempts, the BEST undertaking did not offer any comment on the issue. PTI KK KRK
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