GUWAHATI, June 26 - The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is looking at technological solutions to check revenue leakage and has invited bids from private players to install a smart ticketing system and put in place an e-vigilance mechanism.
As part of the smart ticketing system, the state-run transport service will issue smart cards to its regular customers, and categorize them depending on the membership fee.
�We are planning to install smart ticketing machines which will have GPS and other facilities and will be connected to bank gateways. People will be able to use any kind of swipe cards to purchase the tickets. They can also use the cards to be issued by the corporation through which they will get some rebate,� ASTC managing director Anand Prakash Tiwari told The Assam Tribune.
Under this new initiative, passengers will get both SMS and print tickets. The ASTC cards will also have prepaid recharge options. For e-vigilance, the transport body is exploring the options of RFID (radio frequency identification) or analogue camera-based systems.
�The systems will be installed in the buses and will be connected to the ticketing system and a central server. They will be able to count the passes which have been tagged. The count will be based on a unique identification number,� Tiwari said.
When asked about the poor internet connectivity in the region, the MD said, �We will have clearly defined terms in the contract that the systems will have to have provisions to take inputs offline and update the server once it gets connected to the network.�
Around ten to twelve companies have shown interest to tie up with the corporation in the initiative. The deal will be finalized by July-end after the firms make their presentations. The ASTC is likely to give around 120 days to the selected firm to implement the project.
�There will be a revenue sharing model. We will give a period to the company to cover their investment and another to get some profit. The third stage will be AMC (annual maintenance contract),� Tiwari said.
