India’s first SMS based Bus-ticket reservation Launched by MakeMyTrip

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:

1. Select Route & Date


2. Select Operator


3. Provide  Passenger Details


4. Provide Payment Details


5. 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:

1. 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 >


2. 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 >


3. 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>


4. 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.

Paytm Launched Bus Ticket Bookings via Android and iOS apps

Today when mobile internet consumers are growing at fast pace, a very steadily growing sector of "Mobile bus ticket booking" in India spreading fast and giving healthy competition to key players such as MakeMyTrip.com.Today Paytm.com, which is already a well established online destination for online recharges and bill payments for Mobile, DTH, 3G data, and utility services, has launched bus ticket bookings via its own Android and iOS apps.

Paytm.com is offering for smartphone users to book bus tickets online for over 12000 bus routes across India. For iPhone/iOS users they can download the app from here, while Android phone users could click here to download the app on their phones.

There are few mobile services in India that offer bus tickets booking, some prominent ones are RedBus.in via RedBus Mobile and an Android app (here) from myBusTicket.in.

Paytm.com, which is a part of Noida based One97 Communications claims to recharge your mobile prepaid connections via mobile itself within 10 seconds. The bus ticket app have features like previous order details and booking history will make booking another bus ticket a job of seconds as well.

 

 

[showhide type="pressrelease"]

New Delhi, May 13, 2013:  Paytm.com today announced the launch of Bus Ticket Bookings on its Android and iOS apps. This coincides with Paytm’s recent celebration of crossing a million app downloads on Google's Android Play Store. Additionally, customers will now find more exclusive deals on this app.

With this, Paytm has taken another stride in mobility. Now customers can book tickets anywhere, anytime using their Smartphones. Features like previous order details and booking history will make booking another ticket a quick few minutes’ job. Harinder Takhar, CEO of Paytm said, “A utility like this is an indispensable tool in the hands of any Smartphone user. Now our customers will have everything from recharge to travel, right on their mobiles. While we have already been noticed for our quick and trustworthy online bus booking service, Paytm app has also made news with its million plus downloads and close to 14,000 five star ratings. We're now all set to reach out to many more millions.”

Paytm.com besides being a popular recharge destination offering online bus booking for over 12000 bus routes across India, has quickly become the fastest growing online bus tickets booking service.

Accessible on iOS and Android platforms, this app comes with another new feature for recharge customers. Now they can avail exclusive offers from select brands such as Bookmyshow, Domino’s and Café Coffee Day and more. These are offers Paytm has sourced in a bid to bring more value to its customers. Speaking about this, Takhar said, “Consumers now would not have to look at any other place for a better deal or coupon ever. We've always believed in bringing the best to our users and these coupons are yet another step in that direction.”

Existing Paytm app users will be able to access the new features by upgrading their app, while new users can visit iTunes or Android App Store to download. Quick links for new users: iPhone users can click here, while Android phone users could click here to download the app on their phones.

About Paytm

Paytm is India’s preferred destination for prepaid recharges and bill payments for Mobile, DTH, 3G data, and utility services. Its online Bus Ticket booking service caters to over 12,000 bus routes all over India. Available at Paytm.com and all app stores, it offers incredible user experience and support.

Backed by marquee investor like Intel Capital, SAIF Partners and SAP ventures, Paytm is part of One97 Communications, India’s mobile Internet pioneer.

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Access Web on Your Mobile & Landline without GPRS or Internet Access

Earlier we have covered articles on how to send/receive emails without GPRS on your mobile along with another Indian startup Jamun.in providing similar services for low end mobile phones. Now elaborating the same concept further to not just email, HP Labs India has introduced a new patent-pending technology to provide a custom packaged based web access to mobiles and even landlines having no internet access or GPRS.



SiteOnMobile, is the online service by HP Labs India, though it is in invitation only and alpha mode and works in a defines way, as - Select your most accessed content on web -> SiteOnMobile package them as widgets - > Your web content is now accessible on mobiles and landline. On mobile its works through SMS and voice channel and on landline phones it works through voice channel.

This new technology by HP Labs however comes with few constraints as you cannot access all web content as it has to be optimized first though SiteOnMobile service and than after being optimized as packaged web content it can be viewed. The service is free of cost excluding the SMS charges of respective  telecom operators service charges where it is being used. Although, website owners can make their websites optimized for this service without any cost.



Tagged as alpha release, the full fledged service is yet to be start soon, as apparent SiteOnMobile is not currently open for end-users to use on mobile & landlines and service is currently seems to be for website owners to be optimized for same for free. Nevertheless, the service by HP Labs India is yet another nice effort coming out of India comfortably tagged as 'products/ technologies for masses' for countries like India where broadband or even internet is limited to few percentage of population.

Video below demonstrate 'Tasklets', which is what drives this patent-pending technology - to convert web content into widgets for use on devices without internet access.

BlacMail makes Ordinary Phones Smarter for Emails (without GPRS)

BlacMail is a new push email mobile application launched by Bangalore based mobile applications startup Fifth C , the mobile app is a push email mobile application enables low-end ordinary phones to send and receive mails and that's too without having GPRS as one would normally need to get connected with internet. The app provides low-end mobile users to have email send-receive feature similar to that of smart phones or PDAs such as BlackBerry or Nokia E63.

BlacMail allows users to access their mails through any GSM network on their cell phones anywhere in India be it Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or even your company/ corporate emails.



Difference that this mobile app making is - Unlike to other 'pull email' based applications available in the market, BlacMail is based over 'push email' application that pushes mails to the user's phone as soon as they land in the user's email inbox. Therefore, BlacMail only alerts your phone and you when an unread email from your internet account is pushed to it. While other services of the similar kind pull an email to your phone by frequently checking your internet mail accounts for unread mails unnecessarily draining your phone battery life.

Available for free trial download BlacMail is at present available only in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and also at all UniverCell outlets. However the company is negotiating with a top operator in India for release of BlacMail across India soon.

The paid version of this mobile email app is subcription service based on credit system that needs to be purchased for mobile service providers (UniverCell outlet as of now).

Coming to the features the on demand option allows users to get mails only when they want it, and the mail download size option enables them to control the size of mails, thereby saving the user’s credits. Another feature that empowers users to control their credits is the white-list option. It white-lists domains,sites or email addresses that user wants to receive mails from, and filters out all other unwanted domains, thus reducing spam and keeping the user’s inbox clean.

Airtel App Store recorded 2.5 Million Downloads in a Month

Airtel App store which is India’s first mobile application store launched in February 2010  better known as 'Airtel App Central' having total of 1500 apps available for download has recorded 2.5 million downloads in 30 days and making it to have more than 1 app download per second in last 30 days.

The press release by Bharti Airtel also emphasize that the India's mobile apps model is pretty much different from the global model especially US, European counterparts as here in this case the app downloads are leaded by feature phones and NOT smart phones, a similar consumer behaviour pattern has been noticed for Bolt - a Mobile browser which have largest user base from India and downloads lead by non-smart phones.

In Airtel app store 25% of the apps are free to download and rest are subscription based, however, unlike to the beliefs the Indian mobile consumers are willing to pay for mobile apps as top 5 mobile apps downloaded are subscription based and not free, moreover top 5 cities that lead the download location are small cities ather than metros, these are - Surat, Pune, Udaipur, Mangalore and Thiruvanathapuram.The most popular apps downloaded are falling in social networking and utility categories.

Airtel is leading mobile service provider in India with ustomer base of over 118 million and Airtel app store have 1500 apps available for download among which 25% of the apps are free to download and app available for across 550+ devices.