The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) will enter the courier and parcel business in a full fledged manner from September.
Its contract with ANL Parcel Service will end in August, and it has decided not to renew it and will extend the parcel and courier services on its own. “The decision to launch courier and parcel services by APSRTC will help in increasing the revenue. The corporation can serve the public better than other courier and parcel service companies in the market,” said an RTC official.
ANL has been providing courier and parcel services to passengers for more than two decades in united Andhra Pradesh. However, recently, the APSRTC launched parcel services separately on an experimental basis and has made a business of ₹ Rs. 6 crore.
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“We are making arrangements for running courier and parcel services fully once the contract with ANL expires. APSRTC will give franchises at different points in all cities, towns and villages to collect and deliver the goods,” said Chief Traffic Manager (Commercial and Projects) K. Gopinatha Reddy.
The Authorised Ticket Booking (ATB) agents and Online Passenger Reservation System (OPRS) counters will be put to multipurpose use and the agents will handle the courier, parcel and luggage booked in APSRTC Courier and Parcel Service, Mr. Reddy told The Hindu .
“APSRTC is having a fleet of 12,000 buses linking every nook and corner in the State. We have about 1,300 ATBs and the corporation has decided to appoint business facilitators across the State to operate courier and parcel service,” corporation Executive Director (Operations) G. Jaya Rao said.
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RTC is having OPRS at many places, including some bus stations, and about 600 villages have been identified for appointing franchises to book parcels. Separate software has been developed to track the movement of goods, the ED said.