Mumbai: RTO register new BEST double-deckers as only red in colour

The recently introduced electric double-decker buses of the Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) are red and black on the outside,  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 of 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 which 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.

Of these 24 new buses, the first nine buses were registered at Vashi RTO in Thane district, while remaining buses were registered at Tardeo RTO in Mumbai. As per the Vahan database, the color of all these buses is registered as signal red, though the actual bus has a red-and-black scheme.

According to RTO officials, under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Act, the color of municipal transport buses should be signal red, but now buses with other color schemes are also being registered.