Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of high-value denomination notes, state road transport corporations have suffered major revenue losses.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is no exception as it has reported a revenue loss of almost Rs 70 lakh a day after November 8 when demonetization was announced.
But, rather than crying over spilled milk, the KSRTC officials have decided to take this challenge head-on. Under their ‘Digital KSRTC’ initiative, they have come out with a solution to make buying tickets easier.
In a few days’ time, people in Karnataka will be able to swipe their debit or credit cards at KSRTC counters to book their tickets. And, wait for another month, the option to make payments through E-wallets will also be available.
PASSENGER-FRIENDLY INITIATIVES
1. PoS or point of sale machines at around 117 counters in the state by the end of December
2. GPS-enabled Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM) by the end of February
3. E-Wallets by the end of January
KSRTC Managing Director Rajender Kumar Kataria said, “We already have an online reservation for 2,500-odd buses and people use it regularly. During the peak seasons, most of our bookings are online but during off-peak seasons some 10-20 per cent book online and the rest either buy their tickets at the counters or on the bus from the conductors,”.
“With these new initiatives, we will be able to serve the other customers better,” Kataria added.
Notwithstanding, what many are eagerly waiting for is the facility to swipe their cards while onboard a bus in Karnataka.
This will allow them to buy their tickets in the comfort of sitting in the bus rather than standing in serpentine queues. However, connectivity will then be a challenge for the KSRTC officials to tackle.
Rajender Kataria is optimistic that they will be able to overcome this with ease. “I am not purely dependent on bandwidth. Around 2,000-plus buses are already GPS-enabled and we get data from these buses, which is of good quality.
“I am exploring the possibility that through Bluetooth the machine can also send us data in case there are connectivity issues,” Kataria further said.
Regular passengers are elated with these moves taken by the KSRTC to help them in these difficult times.
“KSRTC has always been in the forefront of adopting new technology. Their online services have been spot on. I would be the first person to adopt anything new that they do,” said Balakrishna, a techie- who was on his way to Chennai from the Shanthinagar bus station.
