BANGALORE: Commuters can book a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus ticket (onward and return) at the click of a mouse and pay the fare through the Internet from any place for any destination shortly.

When KSRTC launches its Any Where Any Time Advance Ticket Reservation (AWATAR) before April end, it will become the first State transport undertaking to offer such a facility.

The existing advance reservation system based on local Wide Area Network has limitations such as "non-availability of return tickets from many destinations", "booking only at the boarding-point/place", "advance booking for only 10 days" and the like.

However, the new e-ticketing system would allow booking of tickets from any place for any destination. Thus, a commuter in Bangalore can book an e-ticket for a journey between Shimoga and Belgaum.

Where available

Stating that the new facility would initially be available at KSRTC counters and franchises, the transport corporation's Managing Director M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy told The Hindu that, "Our primary aim is to enhance the value of services to customers."

With networking, all information regarding advance booking would be available through worldwide on the Net, he noted.

Mr. Murthy said the software developed by a consortium comprising BEL, IBM, Radiant Infosystem and the Central Railway Information System was in the final stages of trial.

KSRTC would launch a new website, ksrtc.in, to offer e-tickets and other information to the public while the existing site, ksrtc.org, would be used for in-house information sharing.

C.S. Seshadri, Chief Systems Manager of KSRTC, who has been working on the project, said two banks, State Bank of India and ICICI, had agreed to provide payment gateways for credit card holders.

They would use Verysign Certified website for enhanced safety of the transaction. The customer and the bank would transact through secured socket layer, he added.

The new system would enable booking of advance tickets up to 30 days. A commuter while ordering an e-ticket had to choose an identity proof of his choice. He had to exhibit the chosen identity proof after boarding the bus for authentication. A commuter could also exchange the e-ticket with a regular ticket at KSRTC counters at the boarding point, he said.

The website offered various details such as inquiry regarding bus services and seats available; reservation of onward and return tickets, issue of duplicate tickets, cancellation of e-tickets and booking of blocked tickets (available only to authorised KSRTC personnel); list of pick-up points; category of buses, fare, duration of journey and the like. Booking was allowed up to half-an-hour before departure time of a particular service, he said.

Intermediate booking

The new system also allowed intermediate booking of advance tickets. A commuter could reserve a seat from Hassan to Kundapur in a bus originating from Bangalore. However, the distance of journey should be more than 60 per cent of the total distance for intermediate booking, Mr. Seshadri said. A commuter could not book an e-ticket from Bangalore to Hassan for travel in the Bangalore-Kundapur bus.

Mr. Murthy said the franchise network of KSRTC would cover all important towns, including taluk headquarters, under AWATAR. At present, KSRTC's 220 franchisees were located in major towns only.

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