A few years ago, city bus service in Odisha had fare slabs like ₹5, 7, 10, 13, 15… up to ₹25 or ₹30.
Conductors often struggled with change, leading to delays, arguments, and irritated passengers and staff.
As managing director of the company, I discussed the problem with
@PrashanthBachu, a brilliant urban mobility expert. He suggested: “Simplify it. Make it ₹5–10–15–20…”
Our team was very hesitant. As a govt company, we couldn’t raise fares. This meant we could only reduce fares to simplify the slabs — ₹7 → ₹5, ₹13 → ₹10, a clear revenue drop !
Prashanth said it wouldn’t. This sounded illogical but his reasoning was brilliant:
• Faster ticketing reduces freeloaders, those who get off before the conductor reaches them.
• Happier passengers and staff mean smoother service.
• Globally, fares are in easy multiples.
We took the risk and implemented it.
Result? Everything improved. We had fewer complaints and happier staff. And the biggest surprise: Revenue went up by 3%.
Sometimes, simplifying is smarter than increasing.
@CRUT_BBSR