Overview
- A 12‑union joint committee began an indefinite strike that started at midnight and left just 32–48 of roughly 2,766 scheduled BEST buses running on Mumbai roads on Friday.
- The state invoked the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act and an industrial court issued an ad‑interim restraint while police warned of legal action after reports of depot obstructions, stone‑pelting and damage to buses.
- Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik and BEST officials held talks with union leaders and asked officials to examine the budget‑merger proposal with a promised report in 8–10 days.
- BEST says electricity supply to its more than one million customers has not been disrupted and some unions have stayed away from the strike, complicating bargaining leverage within the workforce.
- BEST carries about 25 lakh daily bus passengers and runs most vehicles on wet‑lease contracts, and unions’ core demands include budget merger, unpaid retirement dues, pay‑settlements and absorption of wet‑lease workers which, if unresolved, could prolong commuter disruption and shift large passenger volumes onto trains and app taxis.