KSRTC to roll out dynamic QR codes for bus tickets

Hubballi: In response to a TOI report dated Sept 22, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is set to implement dynamic QR codes for UPI payments in its buses. The initiative will be launched in 10,245 Android Electronic Ticketing Machines (AETMs) across 8,000 buses, with plans for 15,000 devices over the next five years.
V Anbukumar, managing director of KSRTC Bengaluru, told TOI that KSRTC is adopting the latest technology, where for every ticket a unique QR code will be generated inside the latest AETMs."We will launch the Dynamic QR code-based payment method for KSRTC passengers while travelling in KSRTC buses very soon. Dynamic QR codes allow autofill of the payable amount. Additionally, Dynamic QR codes have features like password protection, access management, device-based redirection, and scan analysis," he added.
It is said that KSRTC's proposed technology is more advanced than that of NWKRTC, Hubballi, which has the credit of incorporating cashless transactions in unreserved buses. However, in the current UPI system, conductors are just showing their QR codes and passengers are scanning them and typing the bus fare manually on PhonePe only. KSRTC is avoiding the static QR Code method as it is programmed with one trigger action. Once passengers scan a QR code, they will be redirected to another webpage with a payment option, and accordingly, passengers need to make the payment.
Anbukumar further said, "After UPI, KSRTC is planning to implement technology for passengers which will accept credit cards (CC), debit cards (DC), and national common mobility card (NCMC) by simply tapping their card on the machines on the go, inside a moving bus, and the ticket transaction will be done."
He claimed that KSRTC will be the first corporation in southern India to implement this Dynamic QR code technology for KSRTC bus passengers with an auto refund facility as well as a DQR code that ensures quick payments, unlike other payment modes. "Passengers just need to open a QR code-enabled application (any UPI application), scan the QR code, and make the payment. The fund will be credited to the corporation's bank account within a few seconds," he asserted.
Vinayak, a KSRTC conductor of Mangaluru depot said that he is working on the bus deployed to North-Western Karnataka districts like Gadag, Bagalkot, and Dharwad. "As passengers of NWKRTC limits are already equipped with a digital payment system for NWKRTC buses, they keep asking why KSRTC, with its office in IT city Bengaluru, is not accepting UPI payments. If KSRTC adopts it, we will not have to answer such queries," he added.