The chartered service is on kilometer basis, minimum being 60 kms
With the advent of cab aggregators car-pooling has got a boost and it has redefined the system of traveling to the IT corridors in Bengaluru.
Bengaluru: The advent of cab services that took the city by storm is now hitting the BMTC coffers. The popular Volvo and ordinary services mainly targeting IT employees is now incurring a loss of Rs 10,000 per day according to various sources, thanks to cab pooling. The techies in the IT clusters of Whitefield, Sarjapur road, Electronic city and Bannerghatta road are the prime customers who book the cab on apps instead of commuting by the BMTC Volvo.
On the reports of losses incurred by the BMTC due to the advent of the cab services, Managing Director of BMTC, Ekroop Caur says, “Our services to the IT companies have been going on as before. We have scraped 5-6 services, but that is not due to losses but for technical reasons.” Denying any decrease in demand for the BMTC buses, Bylappa from the BMTC commercial department says, “For IT companies we have two services namely chartered and dedicated pass services.
The chartered service is on kilometer basis, minimum being 60 kms. We charge Rs 33 per km. On the other hand, the dedicated pass service is 41 persons. For Volvo, for 120 kms, it is Rs 3,400 per person and for 160 km, it is Rs 3,650. For ordinary or non-a/c buses, the pass ranges from Rs 1,800-2,000.” Currently, as far as the dedicated pass service is concerned, there are nine companies that the BMTC is providing the services to. This includes 199 Volvo buses and 180 ordinary buses. Similarly, 40 IT companies have been using BMTC chartered services with 550 ordinary buses.
Bylappa adds, “I feel the trend of people using these Ola and taxis to their offices is a temporary phase due to summer and the sudden change in the temperature, as these cabs come right to the doorstep. Again, in some places, the bus stops are quite far and it is difficult for people to walk, so they opt for these cabs. Ultimately, people will revert back to BMTC buses. These cabs are profit-oriented unlike the BMTC.”
When DC spoke to a few IT employees, we found people choosing cabs over buses. Rashmi Roy, an IT employee working in Whitefield area says, “It is not only comfortable to take a cab and go, but it is also cheaper. The bus passes cost more.” In fact, not only employees but many companies that provide pick up and drop to their employees, have started using these cabs as it works out cheaper.
( Source : dc )
Next Story
