Delhi Transport Dept begins Phase-2 trial of contactless e-ticketing app in cluster buses

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Monday a total of 2,000 tickets including 1,500 pink ones were transacted through the app on the first day of the second phase trial.

Public transport (AP Photo/Aaron Favila) (AP)

The Transport Department of the Delhi government has started second phase trial of contactless e-ticketing app in its cluster buses.

Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Monday a total of 2,000 tickets including 1,500 pink ones were transacted through the app on the first day of the second phase trial.

Transport Department officials said the scope of the trial has been widened by covering more buses.

"The second phase trial will go on for a week and 300 cluster buses will be covered in it. In the first phase trial in August, buses of only one route were covered," they said.

The first phase trial of the contactless e-ticketing app was carried out amid the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent the spread of the infection among the commuters.

The officials said the second phase trial of the app will cover 14 routes, and the shortcomings noticed during the first phase will be rectified in it.

Majority of app users in the first phase trial had found the app easy to download while 43 per cent had claimed difficulty in downloading it. Scanning of Quick Response (QR) code in the buses, non-issuance of ticket despite payment, and connectivity-related issues will also be firmed up during the trial, the officials said.

The mobile e-ticketing app has been developed with the technical support of IIIT-Delhi for the project—Chatr.

The commuters can download the app from the Google Play Store or send a message — Hi— on WhatsApp number 9910096264 to get the app URL, the officials said.