BEST practices

There are some examples that I have seen recently that tell me that the journey towards a service oriented economy is not mere lip service. Let me start with what is or rather was the biggest point of pain in my life, the Internet connection, rather the lack of it most times.
Like most white collar Indians, the predilection for anything multi national is a given. So I preferred Hathway over Tata Indicom, Satyam or even the sloth MTNL. Let me summarise my experience succinctly, Hathway delighted me on only one count, shutting up when I asked them to, over an inebriated, frustrated phone conversation. Repeated line drops, non collection of payment cheques (also implying no payment avenues except home collection of cheques), adhoc disconnections, adhoc disconnections (the former meaning purposive, the latter meaning vagaries of the connectivity). So I had a black cable emerging like an umbilical cord from my laptop but then the baby was long dead. With a heavy heart and an unjustly light pocket thanks to Hathway, I moved to MTNL. I knew that I could expect nothing, hence expectations were rock bottom, but then so were prices. So seemed like a deal, if not a steal. The image of tobacco chewing, couldn’t care a damn linesmen loomed large in my mind and I feared not just for the future health of my internet connection but even for the safety of my laptop. I was pleasantly surprised.
There was proactive calling from MTNL before installation. The technician was good at his job, didn’t take too much time and explained everything in detail. The Marathi accent was there for all to see, but so was his competence. MTNL also has a dedicated line, where people actually answer the phone when you call up with your issues. The phone bill doesn’t seem any heavier but the Internet Connection sure is more reliable.
My second example relates to the brash, rude and recently killing fleet of BEST buses. BEST introduced AC buses a couple of years back. These were a boon to people like me who didn’t drive to work and also didn’t want to get crushed among motley of populace. Priced at a premium, these buses are well frequented by PLU (people like us). Off late, the BEST, has introduced the BRTS routes. Low floored buses, with huge windows and very comfortable seating, these ply on arterial routes. The pricing is not very premium, more importantly the comfort is transformational. In fact even the bus driver is at greater ease, compared to the normal buses where he is subject to incessant honking and the heat of the engine next to him. My hypothesis is that the stress levels of those driving these buses are much lower than those driving normal buses, given the same route and timing. The other BEST initiative is to hand out tickets at bus stops itself vis-à-vis waiting for the conductor to do it. This has multiple benefits. It eases the conductor’s burden considerably, it prevents ticket less travel to a great extent and it also minimizes losses to alternate options like shared taxis and autos, especially when buses are late. The third initiative from the BEST which is commendable is the issue of smart cards. These are cards which can be read via handheld devices which the BEST bus conductors carry. There were fears of the same card being employed by multiple persons, which has now been addressed to a great extent by conductors demanding accompanying photo IDs. Off late, there has been a move to make these cards, mode neutral. Which means the same card will function across trains and buses, like in Singapore and other cities.
Downsides remain, some emanating from the attitude of the BEST bus drivers which remains cavalier. So he still honks hard, still cuts lane and still makes life miserable for the smaller motorists, albeit while in a modern machine. But then hey, the sloth has moved and that counts.