KSRTC on the mend! 1,000 new buses, e-tickets, on-time salary on the way

KSRTC on the mend! 1,000 new buses, e-tickets, salary on time, on the way
KURTC’s air-conditioned low-floor bus | File photo

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's much-sullied public transporter which has a long way to go to regain fiscal health has ambitious plans. As part of a slew of measures to improve overall operations and employee welfare, the labour unions of the cash-strapped Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has called off their one-month strike. The decision follows Transport Minister A K Saseendran's talks with labour leaders on Saturday wherein it was assured that employees would be paid salary by the fifth of every month.

The monthly aid given by the government for disbursing salary would be increased from Rs 20 crore to Rs 35 crore.

The minister also assured the union leaders that the chief minister would hold talks with the unions on various issues, including pay revision, and sign the contract before January 31. The government, KSRTC management and trade unions would sign a tripartite agreement after holding talks in the presence of the CM.

Based on the minister’s assurance, the CITU, AITUC and TDF decided to call off their strike in front of the Secretariat that had been on for a month. An indefinite strike called by the TDF from January 20 has also been withdrawn.

Workshop to get busy

During the meeting held between the minister and workers’ unions, it was also decided that the KSRTC would manufacture 1,000 buses at its workshop by next year.

It was assured that the 1,000 buses would be rolled out using the Rs 324 crore fund from KIIFB - Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board - as the term of the several super-class buses would expire on March 31. Union leaders pointed out that the government had not utilised the Rs 324 crore sanctioned for bringing out CNG buses in 2016-17.

The government would also immediately sanction the full amount needed to buy GPS-enabled new electronic ticket machine.

Smart ticketing

The government has also decided to bring in an integrated smart card for both KSRTC and private bus journeys.

With the smart cards that can be recharged, e-tickets would become the norm.

A traveller need to hand over the smart card to the conductor for taking the ticket. The ticket would reach you as an SMS, or email, or an app notification. The government has amended the Kerala Motor Vehicles Rules to implement e-ticketing.

As per the current norms, only those tickets that have been entered on the machine and the ones that are issued on real-time basis can be given to travellers. The latest amendment lets the traveller take the e-ticket using the smart card.

Kochi Metro Rail Ltd had put forth the proposal before the government on launching e-tickets for bus journeys. This system would be similar to the metro card issued for Kochi Metro journeys with the cooperation of the Axis Bank.

The required money can be recharged on the card. Apart from taking ticket, the card can be used for shopping as well. Also, conductors would be given machines that can read these cards.

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