Following server problem two months ago, activists say system is impeding preparation of annual statements and overall scheduling of buses in Pune
Last year’s annual ticket sale data of PMPML (Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited) is still not formulated due to a technical snag in the e-ticketing system.
This hold-up has hampered the rescheduling of bus routes and other management related issues for the public transport. Following the delay, city activists are demanding that the transport body authorities scrap the e-ticketing contract and file a criminal case against the contractor responsible for providing a system plagued with glitches.
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Failure? A city-based NGO wants e-ticketing machines used by the PMPML to be reviewed. File Pic
Vivek Velankar, founder-president of Sajag Nagrik Manch, said, “E-ticketing is costlier than the earlier mechanical ticketing system. PMPML pays 14 paise charge per ticket to Vansh Infotech, while the earlier rate was only 3 paise during the mechanical ticketing process, which has resulted in Rs 1 lakh burden on PMPML. Inadequate machines, poor printing quality, and frequent server breakdowns delay the retrieval of key information. Therefore, a criminal case must be filed against the contractor, and he should also be blacklisted. ”
Sources from PMPML statistics department confirmed that the annual statement for the previous financial year 2012-13 was not ready yet, as the data between February 16 and 27 was not available due to a server failure. “We have collated information of the preceding years — 2010-11 and 2011-12,” informed the source. “The preparation of the annual statistics statement for the year 2012-13 will take more than eight days.”
Officialspeak
“Internet based e-ticketing system was introduced by PMPML in April 2010 and a five year contract was penned with Vansh Infotech Pvt Ltd for,” said R A Rupanwar, Swargate depot manager.
“The system gives a detailed and comparative data of each bus stop, also providing trends of ticket purchases and indicates busy bus routes as well. It gives a clear idea to depot mangers to organise bus schedules for the next day, a day in advance,” he said.
Rupanwar, however, said that the e-ticketing system does not work during load shedding, server glitches and does not facilitate back up data in certain conditions. “The back up data between February is not recoverable yet, as the server was down. Information about tickets, pass holders and passes given to senior citizens is derived from the e-ticketing system. The total daily and monthly statistical data comes from all the 10 bus depots and the main office at Swargate regularly.”
The other side
R N Joshi, chairman and managing director, PMPML, said, “Scrapping of e-ticketing is not the solution, as the problem can be resolved soon. There will not be any problems of scheduling of buses because of the e-ticketing system not working in February. It is wrong to demand to scrap the present e-ticketing system. We have a written contract with Vansh Infotech, which cannot be discontinued overnight.”
Anant Raghute, director, Vansh Infotech, said, “I am fully aware of the issue and it will be sorted out by April end. We are in the process of consolidating data of the 10 days, which is already in the system, but not available online. A special team is working on the issue and we are confident of coming out with a permanent solution.u00a0
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