Namma BMTC app to be unavailable from Jan 15 to 30

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation's (BMTC) mobile phone app will be unavailable from January 15 to 30. 

The bus operator said in a statement on Tuesday that the downtime for the Namma BMTC app was necessitated by a migration activity to the Karnataka State Data Centre (KSDC). 

Accordingly, the following features will not be available during the downtime: live bus tracking, journey planner, fare calculator, timetable information, and route tracking. 

The BMTC app was first released on December 1, 2022, as part of a trial run. Its beta version was launched on April 18, 2023, while the formal rollout took place in September that year, coinciding with the BMTC's silver jubilee celebrations. 

The app was developed by a consortium of Manipal Cads and Technology Pvt Ltd and AMNEX. Manipal was the lead bidder, while AMNEX was the technology partner. 

The app lets passengers track buses in real time, get information about bus services and their estimated arrival and departure times, plan their journey, and buy daily and monthly bus passes. It also has an SOS button that passengers can use to seek remote assistance during an emergency. 

While the app has seen over five lakh downloads, it has been plagued by inaccuracies, especially about tracking buses in real time. Many users also complain that the app doesn't work at all, while some say it doesn't provide relevant information about certain routes. 

Despite the BMTC's initial claims that nearly 6,000 buses were available for tracking, the app tracks only 3,500 buses. 

For perspective, the BMTC currently has 6,750 buses, including 1,269 electric vehicles.