The launch makes Mumbai the first city in India to have an all-electric premium city bus service.

The service will run Monday through Saturday. As a part of phase 1, it has been started on one all-day route and one express route.

The buses on the express route will ply from Thane to BKC every 30 minutes between 7am and 8.30am and from BKC to Thane from 5.30pm to 7pm.

On the all-day route, buses will ply along the BKC-Bandra Station route between 8.50am and 5.50pm and in the reverse direction between 9.25am and 6.25pm.

Seats on the buses can be booked on the Chalo app. These buses will stop only if a passenger is to be picked up, based on a reservation, guaranteeing faster travel with fewer stops. They do not permit standing travel.

Salient features

All-electric air-conditioned service with USB chargers and luxury seats.

Live tracking so that you can reach your stop in time to catch the bus.

Flexible rescheduling and cancelling option.

Travel subscriptions that help you save up to 50 per cent on your daily travel expenses.

How to reserve a seat

Download the BEST Chalo app and tap on Chalo Bus. Enter the source and destination to get the route list with the schedule of the buses. Pick the bus of your choice, according to the time of travel. You can either pay per ride or pay with a long-term plan and reserve your seat.

How to validate your booking

Once you reserve a seat, you can find it on the home screen of the app, under the Upcoming Reserved Trips section. Press Tap to Board and furnish your booking ID to validate your reservation. Now sit back and enjoy the ride!

Fare structure

BEST has announced a fixed one-way fare for the two routes

All-day route: Bandra Station-BKC: Rs 50

Express route: Bandra Kurla Complex-Thane: Rs 205

To encourage more Mumbaikars to try the premium bus service, BEST has also rolled out a welcome offer that gives five rides at a fraction of the cost of the one-way fare. The offer can be availed of using the app and is valid for seven days.

Route, offer per trip, and price

All-day route, first five rides for 10 only, Rs 2

Express-route, first five rides for 100 only, Rs 20

Passengers can also avail of travel subscriptions designed to help them save up to 50 per cent on their monthly travel.

BEST plans to add 200 more electric buses on busy routes across the city in the coming months so that Mumbaikars can make the most of the service. It is confident that the premium bus service will help thousands of Mumbaikars shift from self-driven cars and cabs and will help take many cars off the roads.