The new Gurgaon city bus service, which was to be launched on August 15, will now be introduced on August 28. The CEO of Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), Chander Shekhar Khare, attributed three reasons for the delay.
As per Khare, the main reason for the delay was the issue of a notification by the state government related to the applicable Motor Vehicle Tax.
“The enterprise cannot legally operate without paying this tax, for which the state government has to first issue a notification,” said Khare in an official statement.
The second reason was that the inspection regarding compliance and fitness of 25 buses was yet to be completed. These inspections are expected to be complete in a week’s time.
The other reason was that the procurement of digital ticketing devices encountered some problems. Khare said that the problem will be sorted out in next 10 days.
GMCBL’s board of directors has already revealed the fares for commuters - Rs10 will be charged for travel up to five stops, Rs20 for travel between five and 20 stops, and Rs30 for travel exceeding a distance of 20 stops.
To promote the digital modes of payments, GMCBL has offered a discount of Rs 2 for commuters who pay through digital modes.
The GMCBL has tied up with the National Payments Corporation of India to facilitate digital transactions. It has also tied up with both private and state banking institutes for the same.
The city bus service will operate along a circular route, beginning and ending at Huda City Centre, with stops at Subhash Chowk, Hero Honda Chowk, Sector 10 chowk, sector 4/7/9 chowk, Sheetla Mata Road, Atul Kataria Chowk and IFFCO Chowk.
