The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has decided to provide an integrated online facility for road passengers to book their tickets online.
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Oscar Fernandes said the objective of the initiative is to save passengers and tourists the hassle of going to counters to book their tickets.
According to MoRTH joint secretary Sanjay Bandopadhyaya, the efforts of the ministry to launch a website have not been successful as most State government corporations had entered into tie-ups with several portals.
As an alternative, the Central Institute of Road Transport and the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings, in association with Radiant Info Systems, have launched an integrated portal– BusiIndia.com.
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Mr. Bandopadhyaya said efforts to provide a link for the entire transport sector – right from buses, trains and flights to ships and hotels – were underway, and hoped the solution would be made available soon.
Currently the online service integrates most of the State road transport undertakings having a fleet strength of 1.37 lakh buses and offering about 116 million seats on a daily basis.
Chairman and CEO Radiant Info systems Limited Venu Myneni said more State transport undertakings, such as Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, would be added to the portal within the next couple of weeks.
The State undertakings account for two-thirds of the long distance buses that operate in the country. Mr. Myneni said most of the private operators, too, would be roped in and hoped to achieve 90 percent coverage within the next six months.