Mumbai BEST strike enters day 2, commuters reel as bus services remain shut

Mumbai’s BEST strike entered a second day on Saturday, June 20, 2026, with bus services still largely shut and commuters again forced to depend on suburban trains, metro services, taxis, autorickshaws and app-based cabs.

The stoppage has turned a labor dispute inside the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking into a wider city transport problem. BEST is Mumbai’s second-largest public transport provider after the suburban railway network, so even a short disruption quickly spills into the daily commute.

Reporting on Saturday confirmed that the strike had carried over from Friday and that service remained largely suspended despite intervention attempts by officials and warnings under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act.

How the dispute began

The strike call was issued by the BEST Sanyukt Kamgar Kruti Samiti, an umbrella body of 12 unions. The unions had announced the action from June 19, saying they were pressing for a written assurance on long-pending demands.

Those demands include better pay and service conditions, regularisation of contractual and casual workers, payment of dues to retired staff, merger of BEST’s budget with the BMC budget, and procurement of 5,000 BEST-owned buses.

The strike began shortly after midnight on Thursday, June 18, and quickly affected Friday’s operations across the city.

Friday’s shutdown

On Friday, reporting said the disruption was severe. BEST figures cited in coverage varied, but both accounts pointed to a near-shutdown of the bus network.

One account said only 9 BEST-owned buses and 39 wet-lease buses operated out of about 2,800. Another said only 38 of 2,766 buses left depots during the morning peak, and that 32 remained on the roads after the disruption.

Mumbai’s bus corridors were not the only services affected. Reporting also said the strike slightly affected power supply operations in parts of the island city, though BEST general manager Sonia Sethi said there was no impact on the power supply division serving 10.8 lakh consumers in the island city.

Commuters switch modes

The immediate effect was a scramble for alternatives. Commuters shifted to suburban trains, metro lines, taxis, autorickshaws and app-based cabs, often at higher cost and with longer waits for last-mile connections.

Mumbai Metro One said it carried about 38,000 additional commuters by 5.30 pm on Friday and expected the number to rise to nearly 60,000 by the end of service. It also added 10 trips to absorb the surge.

Metro corridors across the city also saw higher demand. Metro lines 2A, 7, 9A and phase I of line 2B carried 2,48,453 passengers till 7 pm on Friday, up from 2,34,593 on Thursday. Metro 3 carried 1,81,716 passengers till 7 pm on Friday, compared with 1,51,502 on Thursday and 1,44,291 on the previous Friday.

Talks end in deadlock

Friday’s talks between the unions, government representatives and senior BEST officials ended in deadlock, leaving no immediate settlement in sight.

Transport minister Pratap Sarnaik intervened and held discussions with protestors. Reporting also said another meeting involving deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde was planned during the monsoon session.

Union leader Uday Ambonkar said the strike would continue until the government gave a written assurance. He also said the unions wanted a meeting with the chief minister or deputy chief minister on Saturday.

BEST chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao appealed for employees to return to work and said the undertaking would take their demands on priority.

What remains unresolved

The immediate question is whether the unions receive a written assurance that is specific enough to end the strike. That was the central sticking point in the Friday talks, and there was no confirmed settlement by Saturday morning.

It also remained unclear whether the planned follow-up meeting with senior state leaders would materialize quickly enough to restore normal service. For commuters, the more urgent issue was whether buses would return on Saturday or stay off the roads into the weekend.

The broader stakes are not limited to labor relations. BEST underpins a large share of Mumbai’s public transport and also supplies electricity to more than 10 lakh consumers in south and central Mumbai, which is why the dispute has drawn both transport and civic attention.

For now, the strike remains a test of how quickly the state and BEST management can restore a core city service while addressing union demands that have been building for months.