EbixCash, a subsidiary of on-demand software and e-commerce services provider Ebix Inc, said on January 11 that it has received an order to automate and digitize all the state buses run by the two government-owned transport corporations in West Bengal state, namely Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) and West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBSTC).
For the commuters, this could mean ticket payment via Smart Cards inside as well as outside the bus. The initial term of the contract will be for seven years.
In a statement, EbixCash Chairman Robin Raina said he was excited to have won this prestigious end-to-end ITMS project.
"West Bengal and Kolkata today have a thriving bus industry that is utilized by millions of people in the state. It is but natural that the state and the city of Kolkata would want to implement a high-tech solution to automate bus transport ticketing and collection."
Raina added, "EbixCash’s Bus Exchange initiative is the only solution that has the track record of successfully having implemented the ITMS across the largest of states in India."
EbixCash’s Bus Exchange Division operates 30 per cent of India's bus ticketing system network, handling $1.7 billion worth of annual transactions. Over 13 state-owned transport corporations are among their clients.
Recently on January 10, EbixCash also appointed former RBI Executive Director Uma Shankar as a new independent director to the EbixCash Board. Presently, she is an Independent Director on the Boards of Karnataka Bank and IDBI Capital Markets and Securities Ltd.
