Ixigo, through its AbhiBus brand, has entered a master service agreement with Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) to set-up, design, configure and maintain a ‘Unified Ticketing Solution’ (UTS) on the Cloud Platform of APSRTC. The comprehensive ticket booking system will aid APSRTC to bring all aspects of ticketing, reservation, tracking, and complaints about its intra-city and inter-city buses under one umbrella for greater commuter convenience.
The new ‘Unified Ticketing Solution’ (UTS) will include unified cashless payments, advance online ticket booking, online bus passes, online courier and parcel booking, a live bus tracking and passenger information system and a central command station.
With the help of unified ticketing, APSRTC aims to facilitate cashless and efficient travel for all passengers within its network. The solution will offer a seamless sync between tickets booked through android-based ePOS machines, OTAs, and bus passes. Any change or update in fares, schedules, service charts etc. will be refreshed without manual intervention. This can reduce the IT infrastructure cost for the state carrier to a great extent.
Passengers will be able to pay using multiple payment options such as eWallets, debit/credit card, UPI, and dynamic QR codes. The UTS System can help passengers buy, renew, and validate bus passes online. Open ticket feature can help passengers to book tickets in advance. The android-based ePOS machines is expected to be a useful tool for conductors and ground booking staff. ePOS machines are capable to issue tickets, accept cashless payments, and act as GPS tracking tools and data collection points as well. On the data security front, the data storage in a hosted cloud environment will retain control with APSRTC and provide data analytics and MIS reports to the key management.
Mr. Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, CEO of AbhiBus, said, “We are glad to partner with APSRTC which is one of India’s leading road transport corporations. We aim to bridge the gaps in the bus transport industry (public & private), with our technological innovations. The UTS system will be one of our biggest development so far as it will cater to an expansive use case, helping passengers get a better travel experience.”
Mr. Aloke Bajpai, Group CEO & Co-Founder of ixigo, added, “This is an important milestone for public-private technology partnerships. By partnering with APSRTC, ixigo – Abhibus aims to bring state-of-the-art e-ticketing, real-time bus tracking and accurate bus information to commuters in Andhra Pradesh. Passengers will benefit from this convenience, thereby bolstering our objective of being the leading travel ecosystem for the next billion users in India.”
