Mumbai, Sept. 24 -- The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking mopped up an additional Rs.500 crore in revenues in 2025-26, following the fare hike in May 2025, according to figures presented during the BEST committee meeting on Wednesday. The earnings of BEST's transport wing alone rose from Rs.1,640 crore in 2024-25 to Rs.2,137 crore in 2025-26, a revenue hike of Rs.497.25 crore. This helped trim the transport wing's losses by Rs.540.46 crore and the BEST Undertaking's overall losses by Rs.621.88 crore in the 2025-26 financial year, documents presented during Wednesday's meeting and accessed by Hindustan Times show. In May 2025, the undertaking doubled the minimum fare for its non-AC and AC buses, to Rs.10 and Rs.12, respectively, alongside hiking rates of daily, weekly and monthly passes. The number of passengers ferried by BEST on a daily basis registered a drop subsequently, from approximately 2.5 million to 2.1 million. Currently, the BEST operates 2,834 buses across the city; among these, 249 buses are owned by the undertaking, while the remaining are owned and managed by wet-lease operators. According to the figures presented during Wednesday's meeting, revenue from wet-lease bus ticket sales increased by Rs.235.30 crore in 2025-26 compared to the previous financial year, whereas revenue from BEST bus ticket sales declined by Rs.6.31 crore. Revenue from reserved bus services also rose by Rs.2.65 crore in 2025-26, while monthly bus-pass income increased marginally by Rs.0.42 crore compared to the previous fiscal. Sources in the BEST said the increase in earnings in 2025-26 was mainly on account of the fare revision implemented in May 2025, higher revenue from wet-lease bus operations, increased financial support from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and growth in other income. "We had estimated that the fare revision would generate around Rs.590 crore in additional annual ticket revenue. Figures from 2025-26 show that the actual hike in earnings was close to this estimate, although the fares were revised midway through the financial year," a BEST official said, requesting anonymity. The full impact of the fare hike on BEST's revenues would become clearer in subsequent periods, he said. In 2025-26, the BMC's grant to the BEST rose to Rs.1,000 crore from Rs.794.52 crore in 2024-25, while losses of the transport division without taking the BMC grant into consideration registered a drop, from Rs.2,517.85 crore to Rs.2,182.87 crore, indicating better finances....