Receives major order from Kerala bus operators
The next time you travel by bus in Kerala, you don’t have to wait at the bus stop for hours. Just log on to the internet or even send an SMS to find out what time the next bus would arrive at your nearest bus station, and it doesn’t stop there. Once you board the bus you are in for a surprise. Flat screen TVs with DVD quality movies will keep you entertained for the entire duration of travel plus interesting advertising inside the bus. Fancy handle grips for standing passengers will provide a whole new experience in bus travel.
All these innovations are being made possible, thanks to Dhanus Technologies Ltd., which will install vehicle tracking and passenger information system in over 30,000 buses throughout Kerala. A LED display screen placed in the bus would display in English and Malayalam details such as the next stop and the distance and time that would take to reach the destination.
Dhanus Technologies, one of India’s fastest growing alternative telecommunications service providers, had entered into an exclusive agreement with two major bus transport associations in Kerala. First it signed an agreement with the Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation for 20,000 buses to launch the first of its kind initiative of installing passenger information systems in all private buses across Kerala. Subsequently the company also bagged another order from the All Kerala Bus Operators Organization for another 10,000 buses to be fitted with a similar system. It may be recalled that Dhanus had launched the FleeTrac, vehicle tracking system services last year.
Now transport owners in Kerala can provide instant information on location, arrival and departure timing and the proposed arrival time at the destination of every individual bus via Internet and SMS. For the operator it helps in monitoring fuel usage, driver behaviour and driving patterns, idling time of the buses and route deviations.
Mr. Srikanth Krishnamurthy, Executive Vice President, Dhanus Technologies, says that the company has started installing the tracking systems in a few buses. It is currently getting the basic infrastructure ready in terms of wiring and electrical connections, and by the end of July, it would have over 1,000 buses on road. The entire order of 30,000 buses is expected to be completed in the next 8 months.
Typically, a vehicle tracking system will involve an initial investment of Rs. 15,000 - 25,000 based on the product and its features. However, Dhanus has adopted a different strategy. It is offering the hardware absolutely free of cost and collects a monthly subscription fee from the bus operators. The monthly subscription could be as low as Rs. 500 per month.
For the bus operator, the benefits are manifold. He gets an advanced vehicle tracking system installed in his vehicle without any big investment and the main benefit would be when he will get immediate information in case of a vehicle breakdown or road accident. Also with installation of in-bus entertainment systems, it is bound to increase the occupancy ratio in buses.
Mr. A. K. Abdulla, President, Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation, said: “We have chosen Dhanus among other vendors on account of their technical and domain expertise on vehicle tracking systems. The passenger information systems that they would be installing in our 20,000-plus buses would be a boon both for the passengers and for the bus operators who would benefit from the real-time tracking system. In addition, the system would be extremely useful in the case of unfortunate breakdowns and accidents. Dhanus would be offering a Web interface in the Malayalam language enabling every Malayalee to access and benefit from this system.”
Dhanus was selected from many other companies that had bid for this order. Citing the reason, Mr. Srikanth said: “We were consistent with our approach and responsive to their requirements. We have already tested and done trial runs on over 150 vehicles across Kerala for a two-month period and provided meaningful reports to the operators”.
In India, bus as a medium of advertising has not been tried in a big way. With more than half the population travelling on buses every day, in-bus advertising will prove to be a major source of revenues for operators. In-bus advertising will also provide a new avenue for advertisers to reach their target customers through static and dynamic advertising, including audio-visual elements, which will be displayed in the buses. Dhanus is looking at all options, including advertising part of the on-screen entertainment, advertising on handle grips (similar to what is done on Delhi Metro trains). All these additional revenues will help Dhanus recover the initial investment and operational cost and these revenues will be shared with the bus operator.
By providing the passenger with information on bus arrivals clubbed with in-bus entertainment, Dhanus hopes to take the whole experience for the bus passengers to the next level, and this is bound to further increase the number of people who use bus resulting in more collections from each trip for the operator.
“We are also planning to introduce electronic on board ticketing and integrate this with the tracking system which will help in ticketing reports, and over a period of time, the operator can even get hourly reports on the occupancy ratio and collections”, added Mr. Srikanth.
With the order from Kerala bus operators, Dhanus has clearly emerged as the leading player in the ‘vehicle tracking system’ market. The company has been receiving overseas orders as from Sri Lanka and the Middle East, but currently its focus is on the domestic market which still remains untapped.
In fact, Dhanus has been participating in most of the government tenders for tracking and passenger information systems and is confident of getting a few more important orders soon.
Apart from the Kerala order, Dhanus has already installed Fleetrac in more than 8000 vehicle all over India with a significant presence in the BPO segment. It has its strong presence in the National Capital Region (NCR) with more than 60 per cent. It has also received orders from the Haryana Police for installing the vehicle tracking system on their vehicles. The company is now looking at the taxi despatch system as the next focus area.
