The APSRTC installed electronic Point of Sale machines at all its bus stations in Prakasam district and also at the outlets of authorised ticket booking agents (TBAs) on Wednesday.
Inaugurating the facility, Ongole MLA D. Janardhana Rao said e-PoS machines were a big relief to the travelling public in view of the cash crunch following demonetisation of high value notes.
Prakasam District Collector Sujata Sharma said 165 e-PoS machines were installed in the district including 60 at the RTC bus stations and ATB agents.
In view of difficulty in getting smaller denomination notes, pension would be credited directly to the bank accounts of beneficiaries in December, she said adding payments to the workers under the MGNREGS would be made by crediting to their bank accounts.
RTC Regional Manager K. Adam Saheb said the e-PoS would be a boon to long- distance travellers who could book their tickets by swiping their credit or debit cards. No service charges would be collected till December-end.
The occupancy rate (OR), which was 76 per cent during last month, fell to 70 per cent this month. “We expected an OR of at least 73 per cent during this month, being a marriage season, but it fell with many commuters postponing their travel plans,” he said, adding that the revenue generated was Rs. 23.78 crore from 90 lakh km operations during this month as against Rs. 27 crore revenue from 97 lakh km operations last month.
