Mumbai BEST committee member Ajay Singh on Thursday alleged serious financial irregularities in the billing system of the ‘Chalo App’ used by the undertaking, demanding a thorough investigation by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police at the panel meeting.Addressing the committee, Singh alleged that while around 22 lakh passengers travel daily on BEST buses and only 2 lakh actively use the Chalo App, payments to the operators are being made based on an inflated figure of 30 lakh commuters.At a rate of 13 paise per ticket for 30 lakh passengers, the operator receives nearly Rs 3.90 lakh daily—totalling Rs 1.17 crore monthly and Rs 14.23 crore annually. Singh questioned paying public funds for 30 lakh users when actual app users stand at just 2 lakh.Refuting the allegations, Chalo stated that its contract covers technology deployment for every ticket issued, crew planning, and revenue reconciliation across all payment modes—not just digital ticketing. The company noted that prior to its solution, BEST paid significantly more per ticket without a holistic system.Chalo clarified that as part of the tender, hardware was deployed for 3,300 buses when ridership was 30 lakh, forming the contract’s minimum guarantee—a standard term in State Transport Undertaking (STU) agreements.Chalo added that over 50% of commuters use its platform, 100% ticket issuance inside buses has been achieved, and the project has won several national awards as a benchmark STU model.
