KOLKATA: Come September and some of the Calcutta State Transport Corporation buses will have mobile facility.
A senior CSTC official said, "We will be the first in the country to introduce this system by which the passenger will be able to pay and make a telephone call. This will be like a mobile public booth." Mobile telephone sets will be available on the buses and the commuter will be charged the same rate as that of a public booth.
The CSTC authorities have invited BSNL, Hutch and Airtel to quote their prices. The official said, "For us, this will be a zero investment. The mobile telephone companies will invest and earn." The CSTC will purchase around 300 new Euro II compliant buses next month. The mobile phone service will be introduced in five of these buses. "We shall first install the telephone service on five new buses first. If it works, we shall introduce the service in more buses," the official said.
But what made CSTC think in this line? "We hit upon the idea when some passengers came to us saying they wished they could call their homes while travelling. It could be for emergency reasons, or just for the sake of communication. Rajdhani Express is the only train that has a telephone facility. But this sort of thing is quite normal abroad where buses and trains have been provide such service for a long time," the official said.
A senior official of the transport department said, "The corporation has been running at loss. This is an effort to attract commuters, and also a way of generating income. The CESC can only gain out of this."