Over the past year, BEST has started doing a rather strange thing. It gave a fraction of its employees' salary — Rs 500 to be exact — to them in coins, mostly Rs10 denominations. But the recent fare change implemented in July, because of which the minimum ticket price is Rs 5, has caused a massive influx of Rs 5 coins — thereby leading it to dish out Rs 500 out of each of its employees' salaries to them in these very coins, leading up to a total of a whopping Rs 2.05 crore.

Manoj Vande, BEST's deputy public relations officer confirmed that BEST's approximately 41,000 employees and officers were paid R500 of their salary in Rs 5 coins on Friday. "After we made a fare revision in July, the minimum bus fare has become Rs 5 and the maximum has become Rs 10," he said. "Because of this, the quantum of coins that we are receiving has increased —especially that of the Rs 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 coins."