Kudumbashree-State Poverty Eradication Mission will manage the reservation counters of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) in 19 bus stations in the State, three in Bengalaru and one each in Coimbatore and Mysuru from October 16.
Trained Kudumbashree members will take care of booking of tickets and luggage, cancellation and modification of tickets, and issuing of coupons.
Thiruvananthapuram, Kottarakara, Kottayam, Munnar, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Vytilla, Thrissur, Guruvayur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Perinthalmanna, Nilambur, Ponnani, Kozhikode, Kannur, Kalpetta, Sulthan Bathery and Kasaragod are the depots where Kudumashree workers will man the counters.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed by Kudumbashree executive director S. Harikishore and executive director of administration of KSRTC Sreekumar K.M. here on Saturday in the presence of the KSRTC Chairman and Managing Director Tomin J. Thachankary.
The “top-up recharge” model has been adopted for running the reservation counters and the Kudumbashree will have to deposit the money in advance for the tickets in the KSRTC account. The reservation counters are outsourced for three years.
As in the agreement, Kudumbashree will get 4.5% as commission, 2% from the cancellation fee, ₹2 from modified tickets, 4.5% from luggage booking and coupon distribution.
The Kudumbashree will have to bear the cost of the electricity, water, provide rent of ₹35 a sq ft as per PWD norms to the KSRTC to the space rented out for reservation, install software to issue tickets and meet other expenses.
At present, ministerial staff is managing the counters after the management removed the conductors from the task following the difficulties in operating the fleet. The ministerial staff will be shifted to the ticket and cash counters, as way bill has to be closed every eight hours due to the enforcement of single duty system.
Mr. Thachankary said the aim was to commence reservation counters of Kudumbashree in all the 93 depots in the State to avoid the hassles faced by commuters in reserving tickets. Besides commuters getting efficient service, he said the initiative would increase the revenue of the corporation.