India’s first SMS-based bus-ticket booking service has been announced by Gurgaon based MakeMyTrip.com, a leading online travel company in India. Via this latest feature anyone with any sort of phone right from very simple mobile to smartphone can just send simple SMS to get their bus-tickets booked.
Five simple steps for SMS based Bus bookings:
- Select Route & Date
- Select Operator
- Provide Passenger Details
- Provide Payment Details
- SUCCESS!
To book a ticket via SMS one should send SMS as - @mbus <From-City> <To-City> <Date-of-Travel> <No.of Passengers> to 9664896648, MakeMyTrip will then respond with choices for different operators on that day route.
Users will be required to select the operator of choice. MakeMyTrip will respond with template to provide the details and names of Travellers along with a template to make payments using IMPS. Customers then have to provide the IMPS Transaction Details (IMPS - Instant Mobile Money Transfer service).
On successful payment processing a success SMS will be sent along with an email. For several operators, the SMS itself can work as e-ticket.
IMPS Funds Transfer facility is mobile service which you can opt from you bank, you will need a 7 digit MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) number to transfer funds via IMPS. Example - for ICICI bank see here
MakemyTrip's SMS bus-ticket booking platform has been developed by txtWeb, an open platform for SMS applications, launched in India in 2011. It allows anyone with a simple mobile phone to discover and consume services on the Internet via SMS and is one of the fastest platforms to make content and services available to billions.
MakeMyTrip was also the first to develop mobile travel app for the iOS/ iPhone followed by an Android app.
Mr. Amit Somani, Chief Products Officer, MakeMyTrip said - "We targeted bus-ticket reservation for this platform since the ticket-value is lower for most first-time users to confidently experiment with the channel. Once they experience the convenience first-hand, we are confident they will continue to transact via mobile. We strongly believe that the future of e-Commerce and travel buying experience is on the ‘mobile’ and we will continue to build products with a mobile-first approach."
The MakeMyTrip website offers Bus tickets for 1300+ operators over 12,000 + routes across India including the inventory for Punbus/Punjab Roadways , GSRTC, Goa and Bihar Road Transport Corporation and Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.
F.A.Q
How can I make a bus booking using SMS?
You need to follow below steps to make a bus booking using SMS:
- SMS ‘@mbus’ along with details such as Origin City, Destination City, Date of Travel and Number of Passengers to 9664896648. < E.g. @mbus delhi Jaipur 01/07/2013 1 >
- Once you send the above search details, you would receive an SMS showing top options for Bus Operators on the searched Route along with the fare details. You would need to reply with the selected Bus Operator option. < E.g. H A >
- Once you send the selected Bus Operator option, you would be asked to confirm the booking and give the passenger name and email id. <E.g. J Rajnikant info@rajnikant.com>
- Once you send the passenger name, you would be asked for the IMPS payment details such as Seven digit MMID number, Six digit OTP generated from Mobile Application and Mobile number registered with the Bank. <E.g. K 9453454 848529 9582495933>. You will receive a booking confirmation on your email id.
How do I make the payment?
Payment would be made using Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) powered by National Payment Commission of India (NPCI).
What is IMPS?
IMPS or Immediate Payment Service allows mobile banking users to make instant, 24 x 7, inter-bank payments to merchants using a mobile phone. IMPS enables registered users to access their bank accounts, make payments and get confirmation instantly.
How do I get started with IMPS?
Customer needs to be a mobile banking user of their respective bank. Following are the steps required to complete registration:
1. Register mobile number with the bank account in the respective bank. To get the list of participating banks please visit: http://www.npci.org.in/impsmerpay10.aspx
2. Get MMID: MMID or Mobile Money Identifier is 7-digit number provided by Bank to the customer. This number can uniquely identify customer’s Bank. The combination of mobile number and MMID is linked to the customer’s bank account. In case a user has multiple accounts with a bank, he can link the same mobile number with the multiple accounts and receive separate MMID for each of the accounts.
3. Get OTP: OTP or One Time Password is required for completing the transaction. This OTP can be generated from Mobile banking application provided by the Bank or through SMS/ IVR channel provided by your bank. For more details please visit: http://www.npci.org.in/impsmerpayotp.aspx
How can I cancel a bus booking made using SMS?
As of now, booking cancelation is available only via www.makemytrip.com.
Can I select the seat allotted to me?
At present, the system auto-allocates seats basis availability.
Advertisements