Case file

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has been in the forefront of adopting information technology to improve administrative efficiency and deliver better services to the public. The need for upgrading physical and technical infrastructure was imperative as KSRTC was losing its business to private bus operators.

KSRTC has implemented a host of automation initiatives involving IT where citizens were the direct beneficiaries. The two most recent projects were the Web-based passenger seat reservation system or the Any Where Any Time Advance Reservation (AWATAR) and e-tendering, though earlier KSRTC had also deployed electronic ticketing machines as well as computerized driver recruitment and staff recruitment processes.

Benefiting the Masses

One of the pioneering initiatives across the country by any state transport body, AWATAR was started in January 2006. Before AWATAR, the corporation had an in house Oracle-based passenger seat reservation system, which was running on the client server based technology. However, these services were available only in the main KSRTC bus stands. The technological design and application portfolio was also exhausted resulting in frequent breakdowns, adversely affecting the passenger inflow and causing huge financial losses to the organization

With AWATAR, passengers can book tickets through credit cards by visiting www.ksrtc.in, or buy tickets at the KSRTC franchisees. Passengers can check bus arrival and departure time, the waitlist status, and cancel reservations using the email or mobile phone.

The high security e-tendering process prevents intermediation, increase transparency in procurement, enables easy accessibility to suppliers, and encourages wider participation.

For tendering, a closed tender procedure was followed before the implementation. Tenders were floated and forms sent to vendors registered with KSRTC, and then opened manually. The tender documents were dropped into a box prior to the tender opening day. Once the tender opened, tenderers or their representatives had to be present at the venue, thus making the procedure tedious. E-tendering gives more time for submission of tenders, which can now be uploaded from any place.

KSRTC: Front Runner in e-Governance

The first e-Governance project of the KSRTC was implemented in the year 1997. The first project was connecting the corporate office with more than 150 computers through Local Area Networking.

KSRTC thus became the first State Transport Undertaking (STU) to have its own website.

The first in India to have an in-house developed RDBMS-based Passenger Seat Reservation System in the year 1998.

The first PSU to have a smart-card based attendance monitoring system (1997) subsequently adopted by the Government of Karnataka at the Vidhana Soudha and MS building.

The first PSU in Karnataka to implement an ERP solution for financial accounting in the year 2000.

Implementation Woes

Finalizing a capable agency which had the development, design, and architecture facilities to make AWATAR a success was tough. Ideally, this had to be an Internet service provider who would ensure uninterrupted Internet backbone connectivity to the data center. Also, there was need to establish a proper data center with level-3 facilities and porting of data on to new systems.

There have been instances when passengers have faced difficulty in booking tickets due to slow Internet speed. The glitches have resulted in loss of information, which delayed the transaction process. In the case of e-tendering, tenderers showed reluctance to carry out this process because they had to install a computer with Internet connectivity and were required to have adequate computer knowledge. Questions about confidentiality of tender documents were also raised.

Going Ahead, Anyway

To address these challenges, the corporation sought the help of experts from the ISRO, IISC, Bangalore Development Authority, BMS College of Engineering, Bangalore University and Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), and formed a high level committee to take up the charge of evaluating technical bids. Independent technical evaluation by Bangalore Backend, an IIIT-B associate, was also carried out.

A team of senior officers and field officers representing traffic operations and those with the required domain knowledge, prepared application requirement specifications, while EDP officials were engaged to supervise different levels of development and application.

Initially, the bus routes were provided on a sector-wise basis. Gradually all bus-stands were brought under the AWATAR system. Users were also trained on the use of Internet cafes, and engineers from the KSRTCs EDP were deployed for supervision.

The KSRTC also conducted a demonstration of the e-tendering system for tenderers, outlining its benefits.

Tasting Success

As of July 2007, there are more than 230 franchisees both in and out of Karnataka. In addition to about 4 lakh online bookings, KSRTC generates an average revenue of Rs 60 lakh per day while recording 20,000 ticket bookings (per day) through franchisees. Even during the slack season, the corporation manages to generate Rs 30 lakh.

E-tendering also has its success story. More than 500 tenders have been floated successfully so far. Tenderers find the system convenient, as the date when the tender is issued as well as the corrigendum is communicated to them online. The procurement procedure has also become more efficient and has ensured maximum utilization of available resources.

The Way Forward

KSRTC is planning to introduce a courier and parcel booking payment through credit cards while also incorporating facilities like hotel bookings and local transport.

There would also be a disaster recovery site or switch over data center set-up in Pune or Hyderabad. The number of kiosks will be increased to 1,000 in another seven months to ensure wider coverage.

"We want to make all employees, including drivers and conductors, IT savvy"

CA Sheshadri, chief systems manager, KSRTC

Inspite of the initial hiccups, the corporation took up the challenge and successfully implemented all its projects. The KSRTC has received appreciation from the public, the World Bank, and other state transport undertakings for its efforts. STUs in India are now following the footsteps of KSRTC for their e-Governance projects as well.

H Chethana Gadiyar