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 Rs 1 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 due 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.
The major portion of the upper and lower deck of the bus is black while the rooftop, bottom portion of the lower deck, major part of the rear side and some portion of the front panel are red.
Before the registration of the first double-decker, the bus operator had produced it for inspection before senior RTO officers at Vashi RTO in February and at Tardeo RTO in June, RTO officials said.
Registration of new transport vehicles is the responsibility of Motor Vehicle Inspectors (MVI).
A senior MVI told PTI that some years ago the Maharashtra transport commissioner had directed supervisory officers to cross-check all the details provided by the manufacturer before the registration of every bus.
“It is negligence on the part of the concerned MVI and RTO offices,” he said.
While Hemangini Patil, deputy regional transport officer of Vashi RTO did not respond, Bharat Kalaskar, regional transport officer of Tardeo RTO, said the “signal red” colour mentioned on the Vahan database was as per the information they received through homologation data.
“Ideally, inspectors (MVIs) should have pointed out the mismatch to the superiors,” said a retired official.
“If the homologation data had a different colour scheme than the actual colour of the bus, it is the responsibility of the registering authority to check,” another retired officer said.
According to RTO officials, under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Act, the colour of municipal transport buses should be “signal red”, but now buses with other colour schemes are also being registered.
With a fleet of more than 3,000 buses, BEST is one of the biggest municipal transport bodies in the country. It daily ferries over 30 lakh commuters in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayander cities.
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