Just 50 sea link passes sold in five months

Toll collector loses Rs 3 lakh a day, as motorists prefer paying toll daily because it's Rs 250 cheaper than monthly pass

Toll collector loses Rs 3 lakh a day, as motorists prefer paying toll daily because it's Rs 250 cheaper than monthly pass

Only 300 monthly passes for the Bandra-Worli-Sea Link (BWSL) have been sold in the five months since July 30, when the BWSL was thrown open to the public.

Of the 300, 250 were sold in the very first week of the BWSL's opening.

Shockingly, the Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), the toll agency appointed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), has only managed to sell 50 passes to motorists in the five months since then.

This works up to an average of just 10 toll passes sold every month.

Funny toll pricing

While Rs 2,500 is what one pays for a monthly pass on the BWSL, Rs 2,250 is all one has to pay in a month, if one buys return toll tickets daily at the rate of Rs 75.

"The toll is exorbitant to begin with, and buying a return toll ticket is cheaper than buying a monthly pass.

This is why I prefer to buy a return toll ticket every day," explained Atiq Menon (33), a businessman, who travels daily from Mumbai Central to Khar through the BWSL.

Beauty Without a Brain: Motorists who travel daily by the Bandra Worli Sea Link prefer to buy a return toll ticket at Rs 75 every day, as it is cheaper than buying a monthly pass for Rs 2,500.

"We sold 250 passes in the first week of July, but in the five months that followed, we managed to sell just 50 more.

Even discounts have not helped us improve our revenues," admitted Jayant Mhaiskar, managing director, MEPL.

Nothing worked

In the report 'Sea Link drive at cutting rate' on August 3, MiD DAY had reported how the MEPL sent desperate SMSes to Mumbaikars, asking them to use the BWSL, and followed it up with a 20 per cent cut on one-way toll rate during non-peak hours on weekdays.

The MEPL is also considering letting BEST buses ply the BWSL to increase revenues.

"While the number of vehicles plying the BWSL has increased, we continue to run daily losses of Rs 3 lakh.

We hope the BEST uses the BWSL. We also expect the toll collections to get better once the Worli- Haji Ali Sea link becomes operational," added Mhaiskar.

Best open-Air Buses at Sea

The BEST had decided to start an open-air bus service on the sea link. The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation even provided five open-deck buses to BEST to promote tourism.

"These buses will ply from the Bandra-Kurla Complex to BWSL once we reach a consensus on the toll with u00a0the state government.

Commuters will have to pay for a return journey since we don't want to incur losses," Dilip Patel, chairperson, BEST, had said.

BEST has not finalised the fares for this service.

The Maharashtra government had asked BEST to pay Rs 100 as a one-way toll for every bus that uses the sea link.

However, BEST suggested the state government issue a u00a0Rs 2,500-monthly pass.

26,000
The number of vehicles that u00a0used the Bandra-Worli-Sea Link daily in July

37,000
The number of vehicles that use the Bandra-Worli-Sea Link now

Rs 17 lakh
Toll collected on the Bandra-Worli-Sea Link on an average day

Rs 3 lakh
Losses incurred by the MEPL, the toll agency on the BWSL on an average day