A new rumour, aided by a photoshopped image has been floating around social media that claims that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking is launching red-coloured electric taxis. Interestingly the picture features a Volkswagen Polo which is a diesel-powered car manufactured by Volkswagen AG which has been mired in controversies relating to its emission standards. (Do read up on Dieselgate and Emissionsgate)
Below is an image of the so-called taxi. In it, one can see a red-coloured car with what looks like a sticker of BEST’s logo on the rear door and BEST Electric Taxi written on the front foor. However, the positioning and angle of the text is a clearly giveaway that this is a ham-fisted photoshop job.
On being asked on Twitter, the undertaking responded saying it was fake news.
BEST then issued a press note with a clarification that image was indeed fake. In their clarification, they have stated that due to the image surfacing on social media, there were questions among the general public if such a service existed or if BEST was planning on starting one. BEST stated that it neither had such a service nor planned to start one in the near future.
Fellow transit fan Akshay Marathe (not to be confused with Akshay Marathe of the Aam Aadmi Party) joked that this could be real given the shrinking size of BEST buses.
That’s all folks. BEST is not launching any taxi service. This seems to be a case of the BEST Fake Taxi. Or is it BEST Baitbus?
If you intend to step out please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.
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