VIJAYAWADA: The Union Ministry for Road Transport and Highways gave its approval for Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) to invite tenders for developing a Unified Ticketing Solution Application (UTSA), using cloud best technology, for the convenience of passengers. According to official sources, tenders for the proposed project are likely to be invited this week.
APSRTC Executive Director (IT) A Koteswara Rao told TNIE that at present the Corporation has been offering services to the passengers through different applications like ticketing, reservation, tracking and complaints. With the new proposal, all services will come under one platform to make it accessible for the passengers.
“We have sent a draft proposal to the State government explaining the functioning of the UTSA. The same has been forwarded to the Centre, which gave its nod for the proposal and is going to extend `30 crore aid to the APSRTC for materialising the project,” he said.
Executive Director KS Brahmananda Reddy said soon after developing the app, a facility will be developed for the convenience of the passengers to reserve tickets in all categories of buses including Palle Velugu to high-end buses.
“As of now, 39 per cent of passengers book their tickets through the Online Passenger Reservation System (OPRS). We are exploring all possibilities to increase the booking percentage to at least 60 per cent through UTSA,” the ED added.
Soon after the app is developed, e-POS machines will be utilised for generating tickets given by the banks against the existing ticket issuing machines (TIMs).