Mumbai: BEST has taken disciplinary action against 898 drivers for rash and negligent driving between January 2025 and May 2026, with 789 of those drivers operating buses under its wet-lease model, according to data shared by the public transport undertaking.
Two people, including a BEST employee, were injured. Of BEST’s 2,850 buses, only 249 are owned by the undertaking, with the remaining 2,601 operated under wet-lease contracts.
Officials said the incident has added to concerns about the safety and supervision of wet-lease buses. The latest incident occurred in Goregaon East on Monday, when a Bhayandar-bound wet-lease bus operated from the Dindoshi depot grazed a car before crashing into a metro rail pillar near Oberoi Mall.
In Monday’s accident, Rajendra Sonawane, 58, a BEST engineering department employee from Dindoshi, suffered a head injury and required three stitches. Passenger Mangesh Modlekar, 57, suffered injuries to his chin and head and required one stitch on his chin and five on his head. Both were treated at Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari East and discharged. A case was registered against the bus driver based on a complaint filed by the driver of the private car that the bus had grazed.
