Mumbai firm bags contract more than a year after bidding process began
LUCKNOW: Aurionpro Solutions Ltd, a Mumbai-based private company, has bagged the UP State Road Transport Corporation’s (UPSRTC) contract to implement its ambitious integrated bus ticketing system project.
The project is being touted as a precursor to the rollout of National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) in the state.
The proposed integrated bus ticketing system seeks to provide ease of going cashless through Euro Master Visa (EMV)-compliant ticket-issuing machines. The ticketing machines will have a provision to accept fare through multiple modes like cash, existing cards issued to passengers, debit cards, QR codes, open loop systems and/or NCMC cards, etc.
The selection of Aurionpro Solutions Ltd became possible after bids were invited and cancelled at least thrice in more than one year.
“We have issued the letter of intent (LoI) to Aurionpro Solutions Ltd asking it to go ahead after it qualified in the technical and financial bids,” said a senior UPSRTC official dealing with the issue.
“Two other firms—the MCT Cards and Technology Private Ltd and the Ebix Cash were two more companies in the race. But Aurionpro was found to have quoted the lowest price when financial bids were opened last while Ebix was found to be technically unfit,” he added.
People in the know of things revealed that Aurionpro quoted the lowest bid price of Rs 0.26 per ticket plus tax while MCT Cards that emerged as the firm quoting the second lowest price, quoting Rs 0.98 per ticket plus tax.
The UPSRTC management has asked Aurionpro to furnish bank guarantee and sign an agreement with the corporation after forming a special purpose vehicle (SPV) within the next 15 days. The company will have to complete the project on the Internet of Things (IoT), within 180 days of signing the agreement. IoT refers to a system of interrelated, internet-connected objects that are able to collect and transfer data over a wireless network without human interweek vention.
“The winner, Aurionpro, has however, formed a consortium with some other firms because of which we have asked it to form a SPV so that the agreement may be signed with that SPV which would be held accountable for everything related to the project implementation,” people in the know of things said.
The UPSRTC invited the tender in July last year and then had to cancel the process and re-tender twice-thrice with relaxed terms and conditions because it received a single bid each time.
Rules did not allow it to process a single bid.