BEST takes on board Tata, Hutch for PCO service

MUMBAI: The cash-strapped Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST), in a bid to boost its revenues, has awarded the contract to install public call offices (PCO) on buses to Tata Teleservices and Hutchison Essar. Once in place, commuters can make calls from BEST buses through coin-operated automated PCOs.

All the major telecom operators, including Reliance communications and Bharti Airtel, had bid for the contract, the size of which has not been disclosed. The bids were called in October.

Under the scheme, Tata and Hutch will jointly install wireless PCOs in all the 3,400 buses run by BEST. The revenue-sharing arrangement is not yet known. “The buses will be fitted with these phones latest by December 15, considering that a few formalities still have to be completed,” said Uttam Khobragade, general manager, BEST.

The specific routes and number of buses to be serviced by each operator will be decided on Wednesday through a lottery system. Tata officials refused to comment. “People use their mobiles on buses. There are people who need to use the phone while they spend 20 minutes to an hour in BEST buses.

The PCO is part of a series of customer-oriented services from Hutch,” Harit Nagpal, operations director, Hutch, Mumbai, told ET. Hutch has already installed drop boxes on BEST buses, where users can drop cheques for bill payments. Hutch has more than 2.3m subscribers in Mumbai.

BEST may be giving itself a pat on the back for innovating new schemes, but doubts persist over its benefits. Considering the deep penetration of mobile telephony, the PCO in buses doesn’t seem that lucrative a proposition. However, Mr Khobragade claims that any viable idea is a lurking opportunity. “My main task is to reduce losses, till it is not detrimental to the interest of the commuters. In fact, this scheme is good economics of better utilisation of assets,” he added.