The decks have been cleared for the bifurcation of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and having ironed out differences about the division of financials and assets, a draft has been prepared for approval by the powers-that-be.
Telangana State Road Transport Corporation will be up and running very soon, going by the indications at a press conference here on Monday, held to launch a novel, e-ticket booking facility on smart phone by the Managing Director, J. Purnachandra Rao. It is understood that by and large the bifurcation of the corporation is through and it’s only a matter of days when it would be announced officially.
The launch of the e-ticket booking facility on smart phones is targeted to increase the number of seats booked in advance by at least 30 per cent. In view of the State’s bifurcation, passengers can now book tickets through two portals – www.apsrtconline.in and www.tsrtcbus.in.
Currently, of the 1.41 lakh seats on 3,668 services offered daily for advance/current reservation, about 45,000 are booked in advance through various channels. They include 29 per cent through online passenger reservation system, 37 per cent through the ATBs (Authorised Ticket Booking Agents), 31 per cent through physical booking at counters in bus stations and 3 per cent through portals like Abhibus, MakeMyTrip, BusIndia and the like.
The facility now being offered enables the passengers to reserve tickets in advance through smart phones. Passengers can visit www.apsrtconline.in or www.tsrtcbus.in and book their tickets through “Book Tickets” tab. Mr. Purnachandra Rao said that while there were an estimated 10 crore desktop and notebook personal computers in use across the country, there were a whopping 20 crore smart phones being used by people.
With people relying on hand-held devices, it was in the fitness that the RTC facilitate reservation through mobile devices, be they smart phones or tablets, he said. This is expected to lead to an increase in users which in turn will prompt a rise in e-ticket booking and thus a better occupancy ratio can be achieved.
