A dispute over expenditure scrutiny, audit procedures and financial performance marked a BEST Committee meeting in Mumbai as members reviewed the Undertaking’s 2025-26 budget on Monday. BJP member Sunil Ganacharya criticised committee chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao, a councillor from the Shinde Sena, alleging that the budget proposal and agenda were not being understood seriously.
Ganacharya questioned the committee’s functioning and said every monthly scrutiny report should carry the signatures of at least two members. He also alleged that the required procedures had not been followed during the seven months since the committee was established in February.
The exchange took place during a review of expenditure under the BEST Undertaking’s 2025-26 budget. The meeting covered spending, accounting scrutiny and the process through which budget-related matters are placed before and approved by the committee.
BEST General Manager Sonia Sethi responded that the accounts are audited every year by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s accounts department. She said members’ signatures are taken only after the audit is completed. Sethi also stated that the relevant information would be placed before the committee at every meeting.
The meeting also raised questions about the financial position of the electricity division. Nitin Nandgaonkar, a BEST Committee member from the Thackeray group, asked what measures were being taken to cover the deficit while a deficit budget was being presented. He also questioned how profits had increased despite a fall in electricity sales in the electricity department.
Sethi attributed the increase in profit to higher income from the supply business in the electricity division. Her explanation connected the reported rise in profit to the department’s supply-related revenue rather than to an increase in electricity sales.
The exchanges highlight the administrative role of the BEST Committee in examining expenditure, audit information and the financial performance of the Undertaking’s transport and electricity operations. The committee’s scrutiny process, including the timing of audits and member signatures, became a central point of contention during the meeting.
The discussion comes as BEST’s budget faces scrutiny over both its deficit and the performance of its electricity business. The general manager said the relevant information would be presented before the committee at each meeting, while the questions raised by members focused on documentation, oversight and the measures available to address the deficit.
