MUMBAI, June 12 -- Just over a month after it hiked bus fares by 100%, the BEST Undertaking is set to bring them down. The authorities are working on reducing the fares by Rs.2-3 as well as rationalising the route kilometres. The step has been taken after the daily passenger count dropped by around 450,000 subsequent to the fake hike. Moreover, the BEST's owned fleet, for the first time, has dropped below 500 buses. On June 11, the BEST authorities held a high-level meeting where they discussed the possible solutions to improve the situation, rationalise fares and introduce a new fare slab. Confirming this, BEST general manager SVR Srinivas said that he had directed his officials to bring down fares that would benefit passengers commuting on short-distance routes. "We are working on rationalising fares to bring them down to Rs.7-8 for 1 to 3 km for non-AC buses," he said. "This pattern will be followed for the AC buses as well." The BEST bus fares had not been hiked for more than six years and were, in fact, reduced in 2019. The recent hike in BEST bus fares was expected to generate Rs.590 crore annually. P4...