<p>Bengaluru: Bus passengers in Karnataka no longer need to worry about carrying exact change when travelling on KSRTC buses. The state-run bus operator has rolled out the QR-based ticket payment system in all its nearly 9,000 buses. </p>.<p>Launched on November 6 this year, the system was extended to all 8,941 buses in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) fleet by November 18. </p>.<p>The initiative has achieved considerable success with QR-code payments contributing Rs 30-40 lakh of the KSRTC’s daily revenue of Rs 7 crore (excluding Shakti scheme and student pass beneficiaries). The KSRTC receives another Rs 1.5 crore from 28,000 bookings through the Anywhere Anytime Advanced Reservation System (Awatar), according to officials. </p>.<p>By the end of the 2024-25 financial year, the KSRTC aims to receive 60-70% of its daily revenue through digital and QR payments methods. </p>.Karnataka seeks 5,000 e-buses for Bengaluru under central scheme.<p>The QR payment system was introduced on a pilot basis with the deployment of smart Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) to facilitate UPI payments. By November 11, all 83 depots received five machines each, and by November 18, every bus in the fleet was equipped with them. Until December 3, the KSRTC had received Rs 4.86 crore via QR-based UPI payments. </p>.<p>“The QR-based ticket payment system is available in all KSRTC bus schedules. Not one bus has been excluded. We are hopeful that in about a year or so, a major chunk of our daily revenue will come from digital and QR payments,” KSRTC Managing Director V Anbukumar told DH. </p>.<p>The QR-based payments system was designed in-house by the KSRTC, while private company EBIXCash is the service provider, he added. </p>.<p>According to the KSRTC, it is one of the few transport corporations in the country and the first in Karnataka to implement a dynamic QR-based payments system. It does not incur any intermediary charges for facilitating the payments. </p>.<p><strong>How do smart ticket machines work?</strong></p><p>The KSRTC has procured 10,245 smart Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) on a monthly rental basis. </p><p>These Android touchscreen machines replaced old GPRS-based, black-and-white keypad machines that lacked features like digital payment support, QR code validation, QR code generation, GPS tracking, etc.</p><p>The old ETMs were based on physical wire-based communication structures and given to depots as and when needed. </p><p>The smart ETMs support all digital payments (RFID, QR/UPI,credit & debit cards, digital wallets, etc). They also have cameras and can be monitored remotely. </p>
<p>Bengaluru: Bus passengers in Karnataka no longer need to worry about carrying exact change when travelling on KSRTC buses. The state-run bus operator has rolled out the QR-based ticket payment system in all its nearly 9,000 buses. </p>.<p>Launched on November 6 this year, the system was extended to all 8,941 buses in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation’s (KSRTC) fleet by November 18. </p>.<p>The initiative has achieved considerable success with QR-code payments contributing Rs 30-40 lakh of the KSRTC’s daily revenue of Rs 7 crore (excluding Shakti scheme and student pass beneficiaries). The KSRTC receives another Rs 1.5 crore from 28,000 bookings through the Anywhere Anytime Advanced Reservation System (Awatar), according to officials. </p>.<p>By the end of the 2024-25 financial year, the KSRTC aims to receive 60-70% of its daily revenue through digital and QR payments methods. </p>.Karnataka seeks 5,000 e-buses for Bengaluru under central scheme.<p>The QR payment system was introduced on a pilot basis with the deployment of smart Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) to facilitate UPI payments. By November 11, all 83 depots received five machines each, and by November 18, every bus in the fleet was equipped with them. Until December 3, the KSRTC had received Rs 4.86 crore via QR-based UPI payments. </p>.<p>“The QR-based ticket payment system is available in all KSRTC bus schedules. Not one bus has been excluded. We are hopeful that in about a year or so, a major chunk of our daily revenue will come from digital and QR payments,” KSRTC Managing Director V Anbukumar told DH. </p>.<p>The QR-based payments system was designed in-house by the KSRTC, while private company EBIXCash is the service provider, he added. </p>.<p>According to the KSRTC, it is one of the few transport corporations in the country and the first in Karnataka to implement a dynamic QR-based payments system. It does not incur any intermediary charges for facilitating the payments. </p>.<p><strong>How do smart ticket machines work?</strong></p><p>The KSRTC has procured 10,245 smart Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) on a monthly rental basis. </p><p>These Android touchscreen machines replaced old GPRS-based, black-and-white keypad machines that lacked features like digital payment support, QR code validation, QR code generation, GPS tracking, etc.</p><p>The old ETMs were based on physical wire-based communication structures and given to depots as and when needed. </p><p>The smart ETMs support all digital payments (RFID, QR/UPI,credit & debit cards, digital wallets, etc). They also have cameras and can be monitored remotely. </p>
