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ETM shortage set to derail KSRTC Onam services

A section of conductors have protested after being asked to use old ticket racks in peak-hour services.

Kochi: The failure of KSRTC management in timely procurement of 7,000 new Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) is threatening to hit its Onam services.
The procurement process that started over eight months back is yet to be completed even as a majority of nearly 5,500 ETMs currently in use has developed technical glitches.

To add to woes, the repair of faulty ETMs is not being done for the past several months following expiry of Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) with earlier company 'Quantum Power Systems'.

"The first tender had to be cancelled due to poor response. Now we've initiated the process for a second time. Though we've got response from multiple entities, the entire process will take time. The new ETMs can be distributed only after Onam and that too in various phases," said a senior official in charge of purchase.

The development already started affecting daily revenue collection and is expected to hit the collection during Onam festive period, when the corporation eyes maximum revenue inflow, badly.

A section of conductors have protested after being asked to use old ticket racks in peak-hour services.

"The paper tickets being given are old stocks and have a maximum Rs 30 as 'Base Fare Ticket'. We've to issue four tickets for a single commuter that including the base fare ticket, combination and cess tickets. Further the old tickets get torn easily. This is costing us time and many commuters get down without taking tickets when the bus is running full," said a conductor on condition of anonymity.

Further a majority of conductors are from post-2009 batch and don't have experience in handling old ticket racks.

The corporation is planning over 100 additional services this Onam, including 20 in the heavy demand Bengaluru sector alone.

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