First State undertaking to launch IVRS-based ticketing system
Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) on Tuesday became the first State undertaking to launch an Interactive Voice Response System-based (IVRS) ticketing system through secure payment gateways, in collaboration with the City-based Abhibus.
APSRTC Managing Director B. Prasada Rao threw the new facility open by making the first call himself and booking a ticket on the Hyderabad-Bangalore sector, assisted by Abhibus Founder & CEO Sudhakar Reddy Chirra.
Simple process
All that is required for passengers to do is to dial the toll-free number 1800-200-4599 and go through the IVRS to get their tickets in the soft form on their mobile phones and email.
The process was very simple, he said, demonstrating it himself. A passenger could call the number, interact with the person handling the call, opt for a particular bus and seat and after getting it, switch onto an IVRS platform to provide his/her debit/credit card.
Fielding questions, he told presspersons that currently, about 50,000 tickets were being booked on APSRTC services, from super Express onwards till the latest ultra-luxury air-conditioned buses. Of this, about 10,000 tickets were booked through its e-ticketing platform while about 4,000 more were being reserved by travellers using the net-banking service, Mr. Prasada Rao stated.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said the after opening a call centre exclusively for the APSRTC last year, a 40-seater, Abhibus had now gone on to expand into a 125-seat office adding ticketing also to their bouquet of services.
At present, he said, Abhibus powered the reservation systems for State Road Transport undertakings in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal, apart from networking and providing software support to 40 private operators across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra States.
