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Pune: The State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has provided the facility to passengers to purchase tickets through UPI, but it is currently facing difficulties in its use. Passengers insist on using the UPI app for ticketing, but the carriers are pressurizing passengers to use cashless transactions instead of cashless on various pretexts. In the face of many anecdotes in the stalled Latur to Temburni National Highway work, the contractor…* Sometimes the QR code is not scanned, sometimes the Wi-Fi has no range, various reasons are being given to the passengers. As a result, the proportion of cashless transactions in ST is still only 4 to 5 percent. Therefore, passengers are still facing shocks in the cashless journey launched by ST Corporation with great fanfare.
While cashless transactions are taking place everywhere in the country, the realistic picture is that it is being deliberately ignored in ST. Most ST passengers are from rural areas, ST administration believes that they are still far away from technology. In fact, passengers in rural areas are also tech-savvy. During Diwali, ST transports a large number of passengers. The number of young passengers was also high. He requested the carrier to scan the QR code and pay the ticket amount, but the carrier said the machine near him was out of order. Carriers in many trains said that the ‘QR’ on it was not being scanned. Due to this, passengers who do not carry cash or lack of holiday money were inconvenienced.
On 7th December 2023, the State Transport Corporation started ticketing facility through ‘UPI’ app in all the Agars of the state. Necessary technical changes were made in the ‘ETI’ machines near the carriers. QR code facility was provided in this. According to the ST administration, only 3 to 4 percent have used it in the last year, while the number of online ticket holders using the mobile app and website has increased to 15 to 18 percent.
ST Corporation planned for cashless transactions in two phases. In the first phase, it is planned to pay the ticket amount through UPI app, and in the second phase, through debit and credit cards. But the journey on the very first stage of ‘UPI’ app has stumbled. It is necessary to solve these problems before starting the second phase. Sometimes there may be problems with the range of WiFi. But not all machines have problem with QR code. Necessary instructions in this regard will be given to the carriers. Passengers should use ‘UPI’ more and more. *-Pramod Nehul, Divisional Controller, ST Corporation, Pune*
