Kochi: A common complaint among commuters was the lack of platform to air grievances over service operations of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Often the calls to the control room go unanswered.
Not anymore, the passengers are having pleasant surprise these days with even the most critical comments posted on social media getting quick responses. Credit goes a six-member social media team, functioning round the clock, headed by executive director G.Anilkumar.
"The cell was formed in June last to interact directly with potential passengers through social media after we noticed patronage of some of the groups providing RTC service information. We succeeded in adding over 40,000 members to our official Facebook page during this period," said Mr Anilkumar.
''The team was entrusted with replying to enquiries and even to harsh criticisms being made in the FB page. The popularity of the FB page went up all of a sudden after we started noting down complaints and suggestions from public and handing over the same to officials concerned for action. The members tried to reply to the posts with available data as far as possible. The cancellation of some of the recent changes made in Super Fast timing, including the Pathanamthitta-Kozhikode service, was on the basis of online feedbacks. Also we cut short the rest period of Super Fast services to a maximum 15 minutes after finding substance in such complaints," the officer said.Encouraged by the success, the KSRTC now plans to extend its presence to other social media tools like twitter.
"We'll start posting videos of services to popular tourist spots in the Facebook page soon so as to increase patronage of such schedules. Also a Whatsapp number has been rolled out where commuters can enquire about service operations," he said.
