The online ticket booking facility for the buses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), which is currently available in Mumbai, will soon be made available in other parts of the state.
“For now, due to the technicalities involved in the project, there are only certain places from where online booking for ST buses can be done. On a trial basis, people from Mumbai have been using this.
“However, in the next one month, travellers from across the state will be able to avail the online ticket booking facility,” said Diwakar Raote, State Transport Minister.
“Maharashtra is a progressive state, where everything is going the digital way. On the lines of Railways, people wishing to travel by ST buses should not be required to stand in long queues and wait for hours to buy tickets. Hence, for the convenience of people, we have decided to introduce the online ticket booking system across the state,” he added.
An official from the Transport Department said commuters can use the website- /www.mahaonline.gov.in/ to book tickets online.
Besides the online booking, commuters using the government’s portal will also be able to view bus time-tables, plan journeys in advance as being provided by the Railways, he said.
Meanwhile, the Road Transport Department, in order to facilitate smoother payment for commuters and ensure a centralised database, has also decided to undertake a mass digitisation initiative to include online challan payments, e-documents and e-reminders for renewal of vehicle insurance.
“The process will begin by upgrading vehicle-related and driver-related software that is used by the regional transport offices (RTOs) called Vahan and Sarathi. This will help maintain a uniform database of vehicle information and motor vehicle driving licences on a single platform,” the official said.
