120 BEST bus drivers strike over Dec pay | Mumbai News

Mumbai: Hundreds of BEST passengers were inconvenienced Wednesday afternoon after 120 drivers employed by a wet-lease contractor went on a flash strike over non-payment of their Dec salaries. The strike led to the suspension of nearly 60 services from Kala Killa depot in Dharavi. The drivers are employed by Maurya Trans-India, a company contracted by Olectra Greentech, which supplies e-buses to BEST.

An employee participating in the strike said, “Our salaries were due on Jan 10, but we haven’t received them. Since neither the BEST management nor our employer gave us a concrete assurance, we decided to go on strike around 12:30pm.” Olectra arranged for emergency funds to be transferred to the drivers’ accounts to resolve the pay issue. However, they continued the strike, citing grievances over inadequate leave policies. A BEST spokesperson said, “To ensure that the commuters do not suffer, we deputed our drivers to operate buses on routes.”