BEST commuters to now get insurance cover

There’s good news for BEST commuters. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) has decided to create a passenger insurance fund to protect people travelling by the buses from riots, bomb blasts, earthquakes and floods.

The BEST administration had decided to create the fund under Section 460 II of the 1888 Bombay Municipal Corporation Act. The insurance fund will be along the lines of a property insurance fund, where the fund is created in lieu of an insurance policy with an outside agency. Instead of paying an insurance company, BEST officials have decided to create an internal fund by charging passengers 50 paise per commuter, per
month.

There are about 42 lakh passengers who travel by BEST buses in a single day. Considering this figure, the initial amount expected for the first year, 2008-09, will Rs2.52 crore. This amount will be used to compensate either the victim of a mishap, or his family.

In case of accidental death (as verified by a Police panchnama), if the victim is a pass-holder, then his family will get Rs2 lakh as compensation under the insurance scheme. If the victim is a ticket holder, then his legal heir will be paid Rs1 lakh. In case of injury, whether major or minor, the maximum cover is Rs1 lakh for the bus pass holder, and a minimum of Rs50,000 for the ticket holder.

All these claims will be settled after all the documents are verified by a BEST panel for this, comprising officers from its medical, traffic, audit and personal departments. This panel will also decide on the amount of compensation.

Pravin Chheda, chairman, BEST committee, said: “Every year, the BEST settles accident cases and pays crores as compensation to victims, which creates an extra burden on our treasury. This provision will make it easy to pay compensation to the victim. Earlier, there was no provision to safeguard passengers against natural or manmade calamities. Terror attacks on the city have also increased. In the Ghatkopar blast, the BEST did not compensate the passenger who were killed or injured. So this is good move for commuters.”

According to hotelier and BEST bus regular, Pradeep Shetty, “This is a good move which will make passengers feel that BEST really cares for them.”