The BEST’s directive to bus conductors to pay up if parts of ticket machines are found to be broken or non-functional has not gone down well with its employees, and trade unions are threatening to take to the streets in protest.

“Your office provides you with laptops, but do they ask you to reimburse them if some part of it is not functional? The BEST is exactly doing this and has issued a rate card per broken part of ticket machines,” Shashank Sharad Rao, convener, BEST Workers Joint Action Committee, said.