India, June 2 -- BEST's recent fare hike, which came after a considerable number of years, has failed to bring much respite. The public transport body is expected to continue losing money in this financial year (2025-26) as well, somewhere in the region of Rs.1,132 crore. This is what an internal document of BEST, a compilation of revenue and expenses figures for the last five to seven years, states.

With a depleting fleet and no new buses in sight, sources in the BEST said the transport body was unable to get the desired benefit out of the fare hike that came into effect from May 9. One of the reasons is that of BEST's 3 million to 3.2 million passengers, approximately 10% stopped using the service after the fare hike.

The document tha...