Now, book your bus tickets online

There is some good news for those who beset by problems at having to book bus tickets through inconsistent travel operators. Henceforth, bus tickets can be booked online across Gujarat just like air and railway tickets.

Bangalore-based redBus, India's largest online bus tickets service, will start online bus ticket booking operations through its portal redBus.in across 40 destinations in Gujarat. The company also plans to launch the portal in Gujarati in the next two weeks.

The online service will enable travelers to choose a bus seat, book onward and return tickets, order home delivery of tickets, compare prices of different travel operators, consult boarding points and timings.

Travelers will be able to book tickets through the internet, phone and through partner outlets including Subhiksha, Sify iWay outlets, Done Card, ITZ Cash and Oxigen. Some of the destinations where the service will be available include Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Gandhidham, Bhavnagar and Rajkot.

redBus has presence in seven states and has come to Gujarat on the back of a low-key pilot test in Ahmedabad for one month, which saw over 50 reservations being made.

"We expect over 300 tickets to be booked on a daily basis from Gujarat initially as it is among the top three states in the country as far as bus travel is considered," says Phanindra Sama, CEO of redBus, adding that over 15 per cent of the company's revenues would come from Gujarat next year.

Five travel operators in the state including Eagle travels, Gujarat travels, Bonny Travels, Pawan Travels and Limba Travels have already signed up with redBus for its online operations and 10 more will be collaborating for its offline operations where customers can collect the tickets from the travel agency's offices or get it home delivered by making a call. The calls are routed through the company's call centre in Bangalore which services 14 states.

The venture is a brainchild of a group of ex-BITS Pilani IT professionals, who quit their jobs with IBM, Texas Instruments and Honeywell to start online bus ticket booking after one of them had a hard time booking a bus ticket around Diwali.

The business plan was mentored by the Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE)'s Bangalore chapter after which the presence has grown from southern states to pan-India.

"Over 1,000 tickets are booked each day through the portal and the number is set to increase since we plan to enter 10 more states including Rajasthan and Shimla in the coming months," adds Sama.