Tamil Nadu introduces cashless ticketing system in govt buses

Tamil Nadu introduces cashless ticketing system in govt buses

Used As A Trial On Two Routes, It May Be Expanded Across The State

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:02.06.2020

As a step towards moving to digital payments, Tamil Nadu Transport Department on Monday launched cashless ticketing system in government buses.

This trial run, introduced in two city buses (T Nagar to Secretariat and Saidapet to Secretariat), will soon be expanded to other routes across the state depending on the feedback, said MR Vijayabaskar, state transport minister.

QR codes were pasted near the entrance and conductor seat. Passengers were instructed to scan this code using their smartphone as soon as they enter the bus through the rear entrance.

After taking their seats, the conductor will enquire about their destination and suggest the ticket amount to be paid for the travel.

Passengers can pay using Google Pay, PayTm, Amazon Pay or any other Unified Payments Interface (UPI) recognised by banks.

A ‘Soundbox’ in the bus, integrated with the conductors’ mobile, will confirm the payment. Passengers and conductors will also get their usual text messages from their respective banks for every payment made or received. This gives a double confirmation, said a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) official. “On Monday, only government employees travelled in these two special buses and there was not much confusion. But when the plan is extended to rural areas, we are not sure whether all passengers will have smartphones. So we are formulating a way to overcome this situation,” he added.

As many as 5,659 government buses hit the roads on Monday after a gap of two months due to lockdown. These buses were operated from 6 am to 9 pm. Though government said that only 60% of seats should be used, in some areas, the crowd was more than expected and social distancing norms weren’t followed. Conductors had a tough time in restricting excess passengers, who were waiting for long, from boarding the vehicle at bus stops.

Minister Vijayabaskar said there was not much response in most districts but number of buses will be increased along routes in which demand was high.

Minister also said that additional special buses will be operated for Class X state board students, who might it find difficult to reach their exam centres. Secretaries of both school education and transport departments had a meeting regarding this recently.

MIND THE GAP: While government said that only 60% seats should be used, some buses were crowded and social distancing norms couldn’t be followed