The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) has moved a step ahead towards cashless payments with its new ticketing vendor Chalo. The system was initially rolled out late November 2021 and now functioning across all 27 bus depots of BEST. The app, which was in its beta phase until December 2021, is now available for everyone. Today, we will slowly cover all the aspects regarding the Chalo App.
Ticketing
You can purchase all sorts of tickets through Chalo App, ranging from a single journey ticket to a full day pass or even a monthly season ticket. More into that later, let’s get acquainted with a step-by-step ticket purchase through Chalo.
Step 1: Open Chalo and enter your bus number or open Chalo and select One-way ticket.
Step 2: Choose the bus route you want to board. Enter the starting point and destination of your journey along with the Number of tickets you wish to purchase. You will be then shown a fare breakup of your ticket.
Step 3: Choose a mode for payment and you will be redirected to the payment gateway. Your ticket is now booked & valid for next 24 hours. Save it until your bus arrives. Your ticket remains visible in the app itself and will be accessible till your ride commences.
Remember: Do not start your trip unless you board your bus or see the bus conductor. Once activated, the ticket expires in 15 minutes. If your bus is delayed, the purchased ticket can be utilised within 24 hours on the same route. Do not worry.
Meanwhile:
Track the live location of your bus on the app a get to know the occupancy and Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA).
The app also comes with a route planner that can suggest buses according to your travel needs. You can track a bus first and purchase a ticket accordingly. The blue icons indicate active buses on route.
Final Step: Activate your ticket and show it to the conductor for getting it printed. As of now, passengers would be issued a paper ticket from the bus conductors. It will take time to make this process totally paperless. If the Token Number on your Mobile Ticket does not work, then press the orange text saying “Tap Here” which will generate a QR Code on your Mobile Screen. Get it scanned by the Conductor and your ticket is finally printed.
Your Printed Ticket will look like this. Do notice “Mobile Ticket” printed as a Mode of Payment.
What else does the app have to offer?
Recently, BEST rolled out a list of Super Saver plans that offers passengers fare-based trip plans starting from two trips a day at ₹9 for non-AC and ₹10 for AC buses. In a way, by subscribing these fare-based limited period plans, you get to save few rupees along with not shelling any change from your pocket. The procedure (as of now) for generating a ticket is the same mentioned for a one-way ticket.
In-detail information about the Super Saver plans announced by BEST are below:
Why Chalo?
The day this app was inaugurated in Mumbai, many social media users lost their cool regarding the name Chalo, questioning why the undertaking did not look out for a Marathi name. The answer is simple. Chalo has been in existence way before November 2021. As of now, this vendor provides service in 20 cities across India (including Mumbai) and five cities are served the BETA Version of the Chalo App. Well, this wasn’t even a thing to explain because right after installation, the App asks to choose a city and the list is self-explanatory.
The Future
On 1 January 2022, BEST launched the Chalo Card which will act as an e-Wallet during your journey. The Card has a tap-and-go mechanism which would be sensed by the upper part of ticket printing machine. I will write in-detail about that, once it is tried and tested. BEST is slowly moving closer towards cashless payments and the tracking system is getting better day by day. Chalo being in the initial stage for Mumbaikars needs a certain recognition and passengers need proper guidance in order to switch to this app. This shows a brighter future for BEST bus travel but, there is one thing where BEST is still lagging behind that is fleet expansion. More buses can attract more passengers and can generate more revenue for the Undertaking. With ticket fares so cheap, people are preferring buses over auto-rickshaws and taxis in Mumbai. Everyone is hoping for new single and double decker buses to join the fleet as soon as possible & help this difficult phase to end.
If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised. Omicron is here and the situation is quite scary.
4 thoughts on “Chalo, Aage Badho: Getting Familiar With BEST’s New App For Tickets”