The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking will soon introduce electronic ticketing machines on its buses that will allow commuters to not only issue tickets, but also renew or validate their passes.
OP Gupta, general manager, BEST, said the undertaking was launching the system as pilot project at one depot, which is still to be decided.
Also, they are planning to buy 7,500 electronic machines in a phase-wise manner. About 6-7 lakh pass holders will be issued new card passes for free, he said.
The contract for the new electronic ticketing project includes training in handling the electronic equipment for the BEST employees. In the first six months of the project, the undertaking will create 150 points for the sale of passes.
The service provider, Trimex IT Infrastructure and Services, has been assured a passenger load of at least 30 lakh per day. It will earn 10 paise (tax deducted) on every ticket. However, the earning cap for the service provider is fixed at Rs1.22 crore (tax deducted) per month or 40 lakh commuters per day.
Also, the BEST will take over the operations after completion of five years. The cash handling rights, however, will rest with the undertaking.
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