PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN INDIA

The term public transport itself is a misnomer in many ways. Which transport system in India is not public? The ubiquitous auto rickshaw is used as a hop-in and hop-out coach in many parts of India, busses and rail also operate with a fixed tariff rate on predetermined routes. Transportation in India is a large and varied sector of the economy. The national railroad was the major freight hauler at independence, but road transport in India grew rapidly after 1947. Both rail and road transport remains important. Although there is a large private-sector involvement in transportation in India, the government plays a large regulatory and developmental role. The central government has ministries to handle civil aviation, railroads, and surface transportation. Counterpart agencies are found at the state and union territory level. Critical to improving the entire transportation sector, the ability of the sector to adjust to the central government's national reform initiatives, including privatization, deregulation, and reduced subsidies plays a vital role. The sector must also adjust to foreign trade expansion, demographic pressures and increasing urbanization, technological change and obsolescence, energy availability, and environmental and public safety concerns. It is however very easy to say that everything should be privatized. Definitely, privatization brings in efficiency, accountability and much needed flexibility. Conversely privatization also looks for returns, and merely privatizing the transportation industry will not cure the problem. Will the corporate houses invest if they for one second think that they will not see returns for a while - given the mess that transportation is in?

INTRODUCTION
Indian Railways, It truly reflects India which is a land of diverse culture and Indian Railways play a key role in not only meeting the transport needs of the country, but also in binding together dispersed areas and promoting national integration It is complex, sometimes unwieldy and unmanageable, and yet full of life. It prospers against all odds! It is not just a transport organization. It is a great social institution. So many things may go wrong in the country, but the Indian Railways somehow manages to keep its head up above the waters, and it always runs the trains, serving millions of people everyday. Truly, Indian Railways have emerged as the sinew of the Indian economy and have reached out to bring together the great Indian family. Indian Railways (IR) is the state-owned railway company of India. Indian Railways

Type Founded Headquarters Key people

Public April 16, 1853, nationalized in 1951 New Delhi Union Railway Minister: Laloo Prasad Yadav Minister of State for Railways (V): R. Velu Minister of State for Railways (R): Naranbhai J Rathwa Chairman Railway Board: J. P. Batra Area served India Industry Railways and Locomotives Parent Government of India

IR has a monopoly on the country's rail transport. Indian Railways are the largest rail network in Asia and the world's second largest under one management, after Russia. 2

Criss-crossing the country's vast geographical spread, IRs work force is 1.5 million and it runs around 11,000 trains everyday, including 7,000 passenger trains. The railways traverse through the length and width of the country; the routes cover a total length of 63,028 kilometers. The Indian Railways own a total of 222,147 freight wagons; 37,840 coaching vehicles; 7,566 locomotives and have 6,974 stations; 300 yards; 2,300 good sheds; 700 repair shops spread all over the country with a work force of 1.54 million people. Freight traffic on Indian Railways has registered an impressive growth in the last four decades. IR is a leading passenger carrying railway in the world. Harnessing the potential of these vast and widespread assets to meet the growing traffic needs of developing economy, it is no easy task and makes IR a complex cybernetic system.

Railways have to perform the dual role of commercial organization and vehicle for fulfillment of social obligations. In national emergency, railways have been in the forefront in rushing relief material to disaster stricken regions. For meeting its social obligations, railways are required to make investments that are un-remunerative and also have to provide subsidized services. Unlike many foreign railways, which receive government subsidies for public service obligations, Indian Railways are not specifically compensated for these operations. The role played by the Indian Railways in our countrys socio-political development is indisputable. Apart from its stated duty of transporting men and goods across the length and breadth of the country, it has played a stellar role in times of natural and man-made disasters. The role of the railways becomes even more crucial to the development of the country as we enter the 21st century and the pace of the growth of the economy accelerates. The need for an efficient transportation sector would become more crucial with every passing year. Thus it is necessary for the Railways to remain competitive, in terms of both cost and quality of services, to ensure an efficiently functioning transport sector in the country.

HISTORY
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The development of Indian Railways had its roots in the 1800s, when India was a British colony. The British East India Company and later, the British colonial governments were credited with starting a railway system in India. The British found it difficult to traverse great distances between different places in India. They felt the need to connect those places with trains to speed up the journey as well as to make it more comfortable than travel by road in the great heat. They also sought a more efficient means to transfer raw materials like cotton and wheat from the hinterlands of the country to the ports located in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, from where they would be transported to factories in England. Besides, the mid-1800s were a period of mutiny and struggle for independence in India, with uprisings in several parts of the country. The British leaders wanted to transfer soldiers quickly to places of unrest. Railways seemed to be the ideal solution to all these problems. Work began on the development of railway systems in India in the early 1850s. The first commercial passenger train in India ran between Bombay and Thane (places in western India) on April 16, 1853. The distance of 34 kilometers was covered in about 75 minutes. Soon, railway lines began to be laid in other parts of the country, mostly by private British companies, and the major regions in India were connected by rail. By the beginning of the 1870s, the total track coverage in India was 4000 miles. In addition to commercial objectives, railways also began to play a social role in India. By the end of 1880, the total track coverage increased to 9000 miles. In 1880, the Darjeeling Steam Tramway started operating (the name was changed to Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in 1881). This railway track was considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the history of Indian Railways, crossing as it did, rough and dangerous mountain terrain at a steep gradient. In 1890, the British Government passed the Railways Act, to govern the construction and operation of railways in India. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were nearly 25,000 miles of railway track in the country.

PEST ANALYSIS
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Political factors: Railways are owned and managed by the Government of India and thus profit is not its main motive. It is meant to serve all the sections of the society, more so the economically and social backward class. The GOI has adopted proactive strategies for railways aimed at income generation and cutting costs. Passenger awareness programmes are also being taken up through public announcements, posters, films etc. For income generation, one example could be of the various ads and posters displayed in the stations. The government lays down policies to be followed by the employees. The GOI decides the fares but has decentralized certain powers such as the General Managers of Zonal Railways are given to finalize tenders and contracts up to a value of 15 crores at their own level. Privatization: the GOI was deciding to privatize the Indian Railways but did not, since the general public started protesting against the decision to privatize, because if the private companies entered the consumers would suffer because they would levy high transportation costs.

Economic Factors: Indian Railways-A Brief Background on Financial position:

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Indian Railways used to carry around 89% of the freight traffic generated by the economy, which was declined to a level of around 40% leading to stringent financial position. 65% of earnings were from freight and 28% come from passenger traffic and balance from Sundry and others. Staff wages and allowances constitute nearly 37% of working expenses, 11% towards pension, 8% for lease charges etc., it is to be noted that IR could not pay Dividend to General Revenues for the last couple of years. In addition, Railways were in need of around Rs.15000 Cr for meeting replacement of Over aged Bridges, Track and Plant and Machinery etc., The Indian Railways was required to be operationally and financially self-sufficient, and being a public utility, was expected to provide rail transport at a reasonable cost. To reduce the burden on the common man, IR deliberately kept passenger fares and freight rates on products of mass consumption lesser than the cost of operation. This policy resulted in earnings per unit of output trailing behind the increase in the corresponding input costs. This is the background in which IR was functioning which makes it obligatory for the railways to be Cost Conscious. This conscious effort was taken by the current union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav who brought a turn around in the railways. No politician has undergone such a dramatic image makeover as Lalu Prasad, Union Railway Minister. Castigated for his ways and ridiculed by the media for many years, he has suddenly been transformed into a management guru under whose leadership the Indian Railways have undergone a remarkable "turnaround". The railways are now working like a private sector corporation.

The most striking part of Lalu Prasads rail budget presented was the profit of over Rs.21,578 crores he announced for the current fiscal ending March 31 and a 14 per cent growth in passenger and 17 per cent in freight traffic, despite stiff competition from low-cost carriers and truckers. The railways are poised to create history by 6

generating a cash surplus before dividend of Rs.20,000 crores as against Rs.14,700 crores the previous year. In improving profitability, reduction of input costs is a major parameter and since expenditure on men and machine is more or less fixed, the only field where economy may be possible is management of materials. It is in the interest of organization to keep inventory holding at the lowest possible level consistent with the service. Inventory management on Indian Railways has helped save thousands of crores of rupees from being invested in materials. Railways have made a major turn around in its financial health with its focus on reducing the cost of operation. Indian Railways with an operating ratio of 78.7% has included itself in a select club of world railways who are able to achieve an operating ratio of less than 80%. The achievement has also to be seen in the context that no price rise of freight and passenger has been made in the last three years. Indian Railways subsequently focused on few basic principles, i.e. focusing on its customers, segregating the commercial and social segments of the traffic, devise marketdriven strategies for commercial segments, improve efficiency in the social segment, shift focus from tariff increases to lowering of unit cost through increased volumes carried on lesser number of trains, generate capacity by optimizing the systemic capability in full and delegate and empower the frontline units to deliver on goals.

Sociological Factors: The impact and importance of Indian Railways in the

countrys socio-economic development need no reiteration. Railways have been the 7

principal mode of transport in India. Railways have played a very important role in social revolution as it is gradually wiping out the socio-economic disparities and bringing the people of various regions close to each other. It has become a part and parcel of the countrys life, influencing our art, history and literature as well as proving a unifying factor for the vastly diverse people of the nation. A reliable and cost-effective transport infrastructure paves the way for fast and sustainable socio-economic changes of any developing country. This is all the more true about India with its huge size and varied landscape and the second largest population in the world. The Railways enjoys a unique position as it provides the most reliable, fuelefficient and eco-friendly mode of transport as it uses the energy more efficiently than road transport. Mostly all the trains run on electricity hence it saves fuel. There is no pollution. Therefore railways are affordable to even the weakest sections of the society. Railways have never failed in fulfillment of the various social obligations. In national emergency, railways have been in the forefront in rushing relief material to disaster stricken regions. Social obligation and care for weaker section, senior citizen, students, disabled persons etc enjoy concession benefit from railways. Indian railways have garib raths especially for the weaker section of the society. To make it more convenient for the weaker section they are nominally charged. New initiative taken during the last three years include reduction of age limits for special concession to senior women citizens from 65 to 60 years, blind and mentally challenged persons can now travel in AC classes on concessional rates. Free second class monthly season tickets for school going children up to 10th standard for travel between home and school was also introduced. Even tickets and coupons at concessional rates are provided to student classes. Even patients suffering from diseases like cancer are given tickets at half rates and also preferred in waiting lists. Indian railways also offer special coaches for women passengers. Some coaches are reserved especially for women others have time slot for female travelers.

People now travel by Indian Railways in far greater comfort. The travel options today range from ordinary second class to sleeper class and air-conditioned sleeper classes and AC first class. The computerized reservation facility has made the rail journey more comfortable and hassle- free. The facility is now available on more than 576 locations throughout the country. All the terminals on the system are networked in a manner which enables a passenger to book tickets from anywhere to anywhere in the country. Enquiries about the reservation status and running time of trains are only a phone call away through the interactive-voice-response system. People can also make online enquiries through Internet about the railway time table, running status of trains and reservation.

Technological Factors: The Indian Railways has always been in the forefront of
development and utilisation of appropriate technologies for rail transport in the country. They have an exclusive Research, Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO) 9

dealing with all aspects of technology relating to rail transport. Train journeys may never be the same again.
Indian Railways now have realized the benefits IT offers and decided to increase investment in IT projects.

Indian Railways and IT have always been like two tracks of broad gage, now

the distance between the two is decreasing and finally the Indian Railways is about to run on IT track. IT applications will be deployed to increase passenger and freight earnings, improve the image of the Railways in the eyes of the customer, reduce operating costs, and ensure effective utilization of human and physical resources and to help the top management in arriving at long-term policy decisions. Lalu Prasad Yadav, union minister, Railways, has introduced the Railway Budget for the year 2007-08. In its 11th Five Year Plan, the Indian Railways is increasing the investment in IT projects to several thousand crore rupees. Railways have three major communication needs: 1. Communication within a station yard, in the area of operations and maintenance. 2. Communication in a running train, between the train crew the drivers and guards and between train crew and fixed station staff. T 3. Communication between two fixed points station to station, covering distances of about 30 to 40 km. Railways are a large network in which fixed-to-mobile and mobile-to-mobile applications are continuously needed. The requirements for radio systems are expected to grow constantly. Trains are becoming very long and signals between the driver and the guard cannot be communicated by hand or the use of sound. Motorola helped railways use wireless technology: the driver and the guard now use walkie talkie VHF radio sets/hand held radio sets to communicate. Wireless two-way radios are also used for communication between a locomotive and the fixed installation in order to warn the approaching driver about an accident or some other situation. Another application relates to an emergency alarm system. Motorola made available a new feature in one of its radios, an alarm button, which the Railways network customized to suit specific requirements. 10

Amongst a few technological initiatives undertaken by the Indian Railways, the one that draws most attention is the issuing of tickets through the Internet. Although this service has been there for the past few years, 2007 onwards, the railways intend to expand the service to reach all parts of the country. As such, e-tickets will be issued through e-sevaof state governments, post offices, petrol pumps, and ATMs. And to make online reservation more accessible to customers, Indian Railways have tied up with Internet service provider, Sify, to enable customers book tickets online against cash payment.

Services provided: Train Enquiry System: National Train Enquiry System has been started in order to provide upgraded passenger information and enquiries. This system provides the train running position on a current basis through various output devices such as terminals in the station enquiries and Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at important railway stations. So far the project has been implemented at 98 stations. Passengers often complained that telephone lines pertaining to railway enquiry remained busy. An attempt has, therefore, been made to expand its reach up to village level by modernizing the train enquiry system and opening call centers at Patna. Under this initiative, people from any corner can enquire about arrival and departure of trains, reservation status, fare, concessions, etc., by dialing a universal telephone number 139 at local call rates. To ensure that the lines do not remain busy, depending upon the need, 200 to 500 lines is used in a call centre so that a large number of people can access the facility of enquiry simultaneously. Considering the unprecedented success of this initiative, it will be implemented throughout the country by the end of so that not only urban but also rural people are also able to get the desired information instantly by dialing a universal number 139 at local call rates. Computerized booking: Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation with the assistance of Centre for Railway Information Systems has launched On-line 11

ticketing facility which can be accessed through website irctc.co.in. Computerized reservation facilities were added at 245 new locations. At present these facilities are available at 758 locations in the country covering about 96 per cent of the total workload of passenger reservation. The facility of booking tickets through Internet, which was started for cell-phones, is now available on landline phones also. Earlier booking of rail tickets on the Internet was restricted from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. but now this facility is available from 4.00 a.m. to 11.30 p.m. without a break. Computerized Reservation related enquiries about accommodation availability, passenger status, train schedule, train between pair of stations etc. have been made web enabled. A common website integrating the more than 50 different web-sites of Railways will be developed with built in facilities like e-payment and e-tendering.

Computer based unreserved ticketing: To take care of the unreserved segment of the passengers, a new pilot project on computer based unreserved ticketing has been launched. Of the 13 million passengers served by the network everyday, nearly 12 million are unreserved passengers. To cater to this huge segment, computer based ticketing systems has been launched for all stations in Delhi area and in due course throughout the country. With this, unreserved tickets can be issued even from locations other than the boarding station and will reduce crowds at booking offices and stations.

Claim Offices being computerized: Railways have embarked on a programme of computerization of Claim Offices so as to provide on line information to claimants about the status of claims. This will help the customers to find unconnected consignments and will also be a powerful tool in reducing the duplication of claims. Computerized registration of claims in Zonal Railway Headquarters has already been started from April 2004 and it was expected that full computerization of claim offices will be completed during the current financial year. Information by SMS: Commuters can now access information by sending a simple SMS to their local operators. For example, Hutch users on 12

Mumbai can get information regarding PNR status, Schedule, Train Timetable, Seat Availability etc by sending the message on the number 12323. Similarly, users of other service providers can send message to their respective operators and get information.

Other modes of issuing tickets: A pilot project for issuing monthly and quarterly season tickets through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) has been launched in Mumbai this year and has been found very successful. Another pilot project for purchasing tickets including monthly and quarterly season tickets through Smart Card has also been launched.

RFID technology: The Indian Railways is all geared to conduct a pilot project for automatic identification of railway wagons using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system across India. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will oversee the pilot, run by a private firm. The Indian Railways have decided to use RFID for effectively monitoring and utilizing the movement of wagons across the country. Indian Railways is the largest in the world and possesses about 230,000 freight wagons known freight railcars. Out of these, 200,000 wagons run on the Broad Gauge (BG) system. In order to improve the effective utilization of these wagons, it is proposed to implement a system of online tracking of these wagons as they move on the Railway system (comprising approximately 62000 route kilometers, including 48000 route kilometers on the BG system), using automatic identification and data capture methods. This pilot project will be implemented in the Talcher Paradeep Vishakhapatnam section of the East Coast Railway. Data will be read at the entrance and exits to the yards at Talcher, Paradeep, and Vishakhapatnam, and the data of wagon numbers read from each tag, with timestamp, will be updated in the FOIS application and / or with any other application at a later date. 13

Tag readers would be placed at various locations along the track. Handheld readers would also be given to staff at key railway installations. The readers would read identification data off the tags. This data would be transmitted to a central server. The central server would maintain historical data of wagon movement to enable tracing of wagon movements as well. A set of standard interfaces would be built into the central server for the use of different applications requiring the wagon track and trace data. Tagging of the wagons owned by Indian Railways and installation of trackside readers will be executed in phases. The scope of the present tender is a pilot project on one section of Indian Railways. Before going in for a full-fledged implementation effort on IR, the results of the pilot system will be intensively monitored and evaluated for a period of approximately two months to identify potential problem areas and formulate strategies to eliminate the identified problems. Indian IT companies have hoisted the national flag all over the world. Railways invite these companies to take part in various IT projects of the Railways under public private partnership.

7 PS OF MARKETING
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Product: A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or a Potential Product need. Products that are marketed include physical goods, services, events, persons, places, organizations, etc. in planning its market offering the marketers needs to address four product levels and each level enhances customer value. The four basic levels are Core, Expected, Augmented and Potential.

Augmented Product Tangible/Expected

Core Product

Core Services : The Core Service is the reason for being in the market. The core service offering is the necessary output of an organization which is intended to provide the intangible benefits which the customers are looking for. At the fundamental level it can be said as the service or benefit the customer is actually buying. The purchaser of a railway service for example is apparently buying transportation. The main products of Railways are thus concerned with passengers and goods services. At the second level the marketer has to turn the core benefit into a basic product. Thus the railway service would include berths, seats, bathrooms, and rods to hold, overhead racks.

Peripheral Services: Peripheral services are those which are either indispensable for the 15

execution of the core service or available only to improve the overall quality. The peripheral service offer represents both the expected or tangible product and augmented product. a) Expected or Tangible Product It refers to the set of attributes and relates to customers expectations of what kind of services are available to satisfy their needs. The tangible offers are controllable and ones which can be seen. The announcement of the next coming station in a suburban railway is a service provided by the railways which satisfy the needs of the passengers.

Cleanliness: It is the most basic of all amenities which any individual requires. It is significant that train have good washrooms.

Timeliness: Arrival and departure of trains on time is the most expected and the basic service which could satisfy the needs of the passengers. If the trains are late passengers should be informed about the delay. If the delay is beyond a particular time there should be boarding and lodging arrangements for the customers.

Safety of passengers: It is of prime importance so that the passengers feel secured. Proper posting of the Railway police force and the dog squad will enhance the confidence of the customers. Because most trains can meet this minimum requirement, the traveler normally settles for whichever train is the most convenient and least expensive.

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Augmented Product: At the augmented level, service suppliers offer additional benefits to the customer that is beyond the tangible evidence. The common people have to travel in suffocating crowds due to paucity of unreserved second class coaches. Therefore, it has been decided that from the current year in every newly introduced train, in place of four; six unreserved second class coaches will be introduced. Cushioned seats will also be manufactured for unreserved second class coaches as is the case for sleeper coaches. Alongside, excluding fully air-conditioned AC and Jan Shatabdi trains, in existing trains also wherever possible, efforts will be made to increase the number of unreserved second class coaches.

In case of longer journeys senior citizens and ladies face considerable inconvenience when they are allotted upper or middle berths. Therefore, the railway authorities have decided that a quota of adequate lower berths will be provided in AC and Sleeper classes for senior citizens and women above the age of 45, traveling alone. Passengers are offered lunch and dinner at nominal price in mail trains if there is a pantry car attached then. Additional Services: 1. Pantry menu in compartments: Passengers travelling by the Indian Railways will now have more to choose from than just the regular "vegetarian and non-vegetarian" meals served from the pantry cars. The new menu put together by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Ltd promises passengers more "quality and quantity" than ever before. And with the food menu pasted on the walls of the compartment, passengers will not have to wait for the pantry attendant to know what's cooking. The menu, besides "indicating the food items being served", will mention the quantity and selling price of the food items, and telephone numbers where they can register their complaints and suggestions round-the-clock. The terms suggest rotation of menu and

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multi menu, parallel diet menu, diabetics' menu for meals served in Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains and other mails and trains. 2. Special Coaches for women and vendors: Special coaches for women and vendors have been added in railways.

Service First Class Waiting rooms Seating Area Seating Area Note Waiting Rooms Women-Only Waiting Room Trolleys Refreshment Facilities Showers Pay Phone Pay Phone Note Post Box Train Information Office Train Information Office Note ATM Machine ATM Machine Note Vendors/stalls Vendors/stalls- Note Public WiFi Information Centers Toilet Facilities Note Men's Toilets

Details Yes Yes There are seats and benches sited at various locations on the station. Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Telephones are available on the station concourse and on platforms No Yes At the station masters office Yes Located on the main concourse. Yes Newsagents, confectionary shops Located just inside the station entrance. Not yet supplied Monday-Saturday 05:30-00:30 Sunday 07:30-00:00 The toilets on the main concourse are open as stated below. 24 Hr Ladies and Gentlemans toilets are situated on Platforms Yes, 24 hours 18

Women's Toilets Wheelchair-accessible Toilets

Yes, 24 hours Yes, 24 hours

Potential Product: Innovations and product differential is the bases of a Potential Product. Innovation is not only an invention or discovery. Using new methodologies in Core Product daily processes is also innovation. The railways have designed coaches with new layouts, having significantly higher capacity than the previous coaches. These coaches will be convenient and comfortable for the passengers. Some of the innovative measures announced in the Budget deserve appreciation. These include the proposal to include wagons of 15-20 tonnes, the change in the dimension of the containers to enable running three stacks, and the increase in the seating capacity of the various types of coaches. That may include on-board entertainment and fast food facilities along with other amenities as also strategies for energy conservation and safety steps. IR may also outline strategies for greater coordination between States and railways to deal with the situation. Traveling could be made pleasant with railways deciding to rope in fast food chains and install vending machines for beverages and food items. Efforts are made to turn around the image of the railways through the food served on trains and services available at the stations. Call centre facilities, SMS alerts, tickets at petrol pumps and ATMs were among the new measures already in place by the railways to enhance its consumer-friendliness. Other facilities like car rentals and value-added tour packages through websites are also in the pipeline. Increasingly railway organizations are diversifying their activities in fields which are not wholly related to their core business, such as commercial property, or real estate development etc. All trains on IR are identified by primarily through their numbers (either the 4-digit nationwide numbers or the zonal numbers for local passenger trains). However, as a 19

convenience, most trains (other than some very frequent local services such as EMU/MEMU or passenger shuttles) are referred to by names in IR's literature and also by the travelling public. The most common way to name a train is by providing the endpoints of the train and the train class designation, e.g., Bangalore-Chennai Mail, Pune-Hyderabad Passenger, etc. A lot of trains have specific names, however , based on names of landmarks (rivers, mountains, etc.), regions, famous personalities, abstract qualities, and so on. Freight trains generally only have generic service-based names such as 'Green Arrow', but a few services have specific names, e.g., Shalimar Special, Ahmedabad Arrow, etc.

Product width 1. Passenger Train: Indian Railways have been divided into 9 Zones - Western,
Central, Eastern, Northern, North Eastern, Northeast Frontier, Southern, South Central & South Eastern covering the largest route length of over 63000 Kms of total Indian boundary. It is the most convenient way of traveling if you are traveling on a budget. The railways have one of the most efficient communication systems between 2 stations.

Passenger train product line:

Tourist Trains Palace On Wheels Royal Orient Fairy Queen The Kangra Queen The Desert Queen The Great Indian Rover Other tourist trains

Hill Railways 20

 Darjeeling Himalayan Railway The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (or the Ooty Rack Railway) "Toy trains" : The NG hill trains Rajdhanis: Rajdhani trains are fast passenger trains connecting various cities to the New Delhi area (the capital; "Rajdhani" means a capital city in Hindi). They are generally given operational priority as they are "prestige" trains. The early Rajdhanis all had AC chair-car accommodations; however, now they all have AC sleeper accommodations. Shatabdis: The Shatabdi Express trains are fast inter-city express trains which aim to provide daytime service noticeably faster than the other "superfast" trains over medium distances, generally providing for a same-day return (leave early in the morning, and return late at night). Other Famous Trains The Grand Trunk Express Frontier Mail Punjab Mail Flying Ranee Deccan Queen The Boat Mail The Imperial Indian Mail Janata Express, Jansewa Express, Matribhumi Express, Jana Shatabdi Express, Garib Rath trains Samjhauta Express Lifeline Express: The Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha Express is a mobile hospital in a train. Gandhi Puts Health Train For Rural Areas On Track. A brand new four-coach train offering free up-to-date diagnostic and surgical treatment for The new train, inaugurated by Gandhi at a function presided over by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, replaces the Lifeline Express that had been launched in July 21

1991 by Impact India Foundation in collaboration with Indian Railways and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. The coaches were redesigned and restored to be a fully functional, air-conditioned hospital, equipped with all modern medical and surgical facilities, including training facilities for up to 50 medical personnel. Surgeries are conducted during its four-six week stay at a particular location. Each five-week stop costs around Rs.2 million. The train is equipped with three operation tables, modern surgical equipment and accessories, kitchen, restrooms, sterilisation equipment, recovery room for the patients, audiometric/ophthalmic room and X-Ray room. The project is funded by Impact UK, charitable organisations, Indian corporate houses and individuals. According to the Impact India website, the train's services include surgical interventions to restore movement to polio and orthopaedic patients, cataract operations as well as preventive treatment in the form of immunisation, administration of nutrients and creating health awareness among the deprived in rural and semi-urban areas. The original Lifeline Express was formed using four used coaches given by the railways. Along with the Impact India representatives, Sonia Gandhi had approached the former railway minister George Fernandes for providing four coaches to run the train hospital. The coaches in the new hospital on wheels were manufactured at the Indian Coach Factory, Perambadur. Patiala State Monorail The Presidential Saloon Suburban Trains in Mumbai Accommodation Types

Berths Seats Chair car

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Product Variations: The 1st class is mainly for 6 persons in day and converted in to a cabin for 4 persons for night travel. They are the most expensive of all the tiers. Generally there is only one coach of this class. The AC 2tier class has berths for night and seats for day. It is meant for 6 people and in the night it is meant for 4 people. In this case there are curtains instead of door for maintaining privacy. It is mostly recommended for comfortable traveling for long distances as movement of persons in the compartment other than reserved people is not permitted. Bedding is provided at night from an attendant. However there are only 2-3 coaches of AC 2tier per train of 15-17 boggies, hence ticket availability is difficult if not booked well in advance. AC 3tier is meant for 8 people. The seats are cushioned and it is a more economical way of traveling. Second Class (General Compartment) 2 to 4 coaches in a train, usually 2 just behind the engine and 2 at the end of the train. One need not do any reservation for traveling in this. Just buy the ticket from the counter at railway station even when the train is standing at the platform ready for departure. This is the cheapest way to travel in India. No sleeping berths are available. The facilities are bare minimum. Food is available from the vendors. 4 toilets (squat type) with water are attached to each coach. Fans are provided. Two washbasins are also provided at both the ends. AC Chair car (CC)- Generally attached to the day running trains only. Looks more like an economy class seat in the plane. A bit wider seat but. Many day running express trains have this class. Break Van - These are the luggage van attached at the end of each trains. If one has any huge size articles (bicycle, Motorbike, camping equipment. etc) one can carry in the same train they are traveling. Luggage need not have to be booked along with reservation. Pantry Car - Most of the long distance trains have this facility. One can get meals, snacks, coffee, tea (chai), cool drinks etc in this. Staff comes to the seat

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with supply. Also one can go the car and order directly. One needs to pay for what you buy.This is basically a vegetarian facility.

2. Freight services: Freight is the backbone of the Indian Railways and contributes
more than 66 per cent of this organisation's earnings, even subsidising the losses it makes on passenger operations. For any rail road company / organisation continuous cargo visibility is viewed as the most critical component of its physical distribution system. FOIS enables freight customers to have instant access to information regarding the current status of their consignments in transit, allowing them to implement just in time inventory management systems and better logistics management. It is a system for management and control of freight movement that also assists managers to optimise their asset utilisation.

3. Pipeline transportation is peculiar in the sense that it does not require any vehicle.
It is one way method of transportation in which mechanical power is required for its operation. It is meant for the transportation of liquid commodities like urban water, gas, petroleum or natural gas. This mode of transportation is a recent development in the Indian context. In the Indian railways pipeline carry white products. There are 4 pipeline systems in the country.

4. Railway mail services: Indian railways are the mainstay of the present postal
systems. For carrying heavy mails and parcels and for linking the postal systems with the remotest parts of the country the Indian railways are and will continue to remain the most important means of establishing a postal network in the country.

PLACE MIX

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Place refers to the contact point between the service provider and who gets the benefit of the service i.e., customer. Place, not only means the locations of producer facilities, but also the locations of all points of sale at which customers may have access to the product or service. Two main issues which should be taken into consideration when taking decision regarding the place are accessibility and availability of the service to the customer. The Indian railways make provisions for offering this service and the railway personnel working at different stages in different capacities offer the same to the users. In this context it is pertinent that distortion in the process of offering is regulated and any gap between the service promised and service offered is bridged over. In respect of processing of services, time management plays a significant role. The late running of trains is an important aspect influencing the reality and generating the gap. The time management needs an intensive care in the whole process of offering the services. Off late the Indian railways have sophisticated device to manage and control man and technologies. In addition to passenger services they also need to make sure that goods booked for a particular destination reach on time without damage. Distribution network of Railways is as follows: Franchisee NO Agents YES E-Booking YES Ticket Counter YES

PEOPLE MIX

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In any utility undertaking the management of people is a difficult task and requires more professional excellence People play a major role in service organizations. It is their responsibility to see that the customers needs and wants are satisfied. This requires the employees to be well motivated & focused about their job. The providers have to be in the highest state of readiness and also in the highest level of skill. People - in service marketing includes EMPLOYEES OTHER CUSTOMERS

Employees in Indian railways: The Indian Railways with a work force of nearly 1.5 million is one of the biggest employers in the world. The Indian Railways are broadly divided into zones, divisions and departments. Each division has both technical and nontechnical departments. Technical departments include civil and mechanical engineering, signalling and telecom, while the non-technical departments include accounts, personnel management, and Railway Protection Force (RPF) or security and traffic services. Each department has staff at four levels: Group D staff members include helpers, khalasis, porters and coolies. The minimum qualification for this level is a 10th standard pass, and remuneration is Rs.1,200 per month. Group C staff is recruited on the basis of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB). This Group includes assistant stationmasters, drivers, motormen, guards, signal and mechanical inspectors. Most members of the C staff have to be graduates. However, those in the technical category like supervisors and senior sectional engineers need to have diplomas and degrees in their respective areas of work. Those trying for the post of Supervisors need to write the examination conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB). The lowest level at which one can join is as a ticket checker or clerk, for which one needs to have passed their 10th standard with a minimum of 50%. The salary is Rs.3,500 per month while higher level employees, such as senior clerks and stationmasters get Rs.5,000. 26

Group B officers are directly promoted from Group C. After about 10 to 15 years of service, or alternatively after working for 5 years and then appearing for an exam called the Limited Department Examination (LDE), 5-10 % of Group C employees are promoted to Group B. The salary varies between Rs.7000-8000 and one reaches the status of an officer. Group A officers constitute the top-most level in the railways. They are recruited through the UPSC exams, and must have an engineering background. The various exams under the Indian Engineering Services (IES) are the Indian Railway Service of Engineers Exam (IRSE), the Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers exam (IRSEE), the Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers exam (IRSME) and the Indian Railway Service of Signal Engineers exam (IRSSE). One can start out as a Group A Assistant Officer with a salary of Rs.8,000 per month. For the selection of mechanical engineers, a Special Class Railway Apprenticeship Examination is held. The chosen candidates are given a four-year probationary training. The varied operations of the Indian Railways provide openings in many areas and can accommodate persons of various capabilities. However, despite having so many divisions, cadres, etc., the prospects, promotions and remuneration are at par in all the divisions. Remuneration for railway officers is fixed by the Government and follows the pattern of all other civil services. Other benefits attached to the railways are facilities like travel allowances, educational facilities, housing facilities, pension, health care, free railway passes and so on. To have the optimum output from the workforce, higher motivation level and stress free environment is to be ensured. Suiting the job requirements, skills of manpower have to be suitably developed requiring adequate attention in their training facilities.

Recruitment

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The focus will be on appropriate aptitude while selecting personnel. A review and update of minimum qualifications prescribed for each category will be undertaken taking into account required knowledge, skill and availability of trained manpower.

To improve the quality of recruitment of safety category staff, the job eligibility standards would be raised for general as well as reserved category candidates. Gangmen and drivers above the age of 50 and upto 57 years would be given option to seek voluntary retirement and one of their wards will be given appointment, if eligible.

A suitable computerised test programme would be developed and standardised for determining the physical characteristics such as alertness, reaction time, stamina and ability to withstand frequent changes.

TRAINING Types of Training Initial training at recruitment stage Promotional Training Prescribed Technical Skill upgradation Training Periodical Training related to safety, puctuality, publicity, passenger amenities and customer care Special Training courses First Aid Training courses Departmental Staff Training Institutions Zonal Training Centre Zonal Electrical Training centre Supervisor Training centre Zonal Civil Engineering Training centre Electric Traction Training centre Diesel Traction Training centre 28

Basic Training centres in each Division and Workshop for technical staff Computerisation: The Personnel Department of railways is moving towards modernization, transparency in functioning, deliver promptly and effective service to its internal customers who are none other than the employees of the railway itself, has computerised its various activities. The salary payments of all the employees throughout the railway have been computerised. The computerised payslips given to the employees show details of pay, allowances, deductions, leave balance, increment due date etc. The Personnel Department at Headquaters, Divisions and other units of the railway has computerised different activities like , seniority lists of the employees, handling of the grievances of the employees, details pertaining to the appointments made/being made, pensionary and terminal benefits of the employees etc. Future plans for the new year On-line leave enquiry On-line PF enquiry On-line Pass Account enquiry On-line Vacancy enquiry On-line Rules enquiry

RETIREMENTS Types of Retirements Voluntary Retirement - One who completes 20 years of service can retire voluntarily with bonus benefits. Normal Retirement -On completion of 60 years of age Other than Normal Retirement like Death, Medical Decategorisation and Missing Benefits after Retirement 29

 Monthly Pension @ 50%- of average emoluments drawn during the last 10 months/Family Pension @ 30 percent of last pay drawn for those completing 33 years of qualifying service Retirement/Death Gratuity Commutation of Pension to the maximum extent of 40% of monthly pension Leave encashment Insurance amount Provident fund Post Retirement/Widow Complimentary yearly passes for free travel on Railway Network Kit Pass Transfer pass, Transfer grant, Packing Allowance and Travelling Allowance Compassionate Appointment in case of death/missing Railway Employees Liberalized Health Scheme for medical assistance on par with serving employees . Welfare activities at field level Annual Sports Competitions by South Central Railway Sports Association Annual Cultural Competitions Colony care committees to take care of amenities of residents in railway colonies Redressal of employee grievances Well-trained Ministerial Staff in Personnel Department in each Division Grievance Cell in each Division headed by Divisional Personnel Officer Divisional Railway Manager Line Inspection GMs Annual Line Inspection Memorandums received during Departmental Officers Inspection Welfare Inspectors personal contact schemeevery employee will be contacted once in a year 30

 Memorandums directly received by General Manager, PHODs, DRM, Branch Officers every day from 16hrs. to 17 hrs.

Educational Facilities
1 Degree College at Lallaguda, Secunderabad 4 Junior Colleges at Secunderabad,Guntakal, Vijayawada and Kazipet 14 High Schools in six Divisions 2 Upper Primary Schools in Two Divisions 9 Primary Schools in five Divisions 22 Austerity type Primary Schools in five Divisions

Recreation
Officers Clubs for Recreation of Officers Staff Institutes for Recreation of Staff. Community Halls for Customary functions Holiday Homes for Pilgrimages/Outings Rest Houses for rest on short leave

General facilities
Subsidised Hostels for economically backward Students Cycle/Scooter/Car/Computer/House Loans Privilege Travel Passes and concessional P.T.Os Canteens with nutritious food in all major Centers of workforce Co-operative Scheme Co-operative societies for economic living Cooperative Credit societies for Banking purpose House Building Society for Housing activities Benefits 31

Free train travel through the country and free accommodation. All groups are entitled to pension and medical aid. Accommodation is made available to 30% of Group C employees. All Group B employees are entitled to free accommodation and telephone, while Group A officers get accommodation in Railway Colonies and telephones. Indian railways have been offering to their employees a no. of incentives in relation to the salary and perks linked to the price index related to the price index and inflationary pressures. There are necessary ongoing training programmes refresher courses seminars and workshops where employees in addition to efficiencies are made aware of the value orientation processes. Customers of Indian railways People mix not only includes employees but also customers. The customers are to be treated with respect and courtesy and vice-versa. Railways announce a reduction of Rs.1 per passenger in the daily ticket fares of non-suburban ordinary passenger and non-super-fast mail-express trains. The 'aam admi' gave the thumbs-up to the railway budget happy with the fare cuts and looking forward to implementation of the pro-consumer services announced. The best part of the budget is that the profit earned by the railways in 2006-07 has been shared equally with the passengers by slashing the train fares across the board," said Satinder Wadhwa, a local trader. "Reduction in freight charges will help in containing the prices of essential commodities in the country," Wadhwa said. Another passenger, Romila, said the universal enquiry number 139 would remove all confusion about the railway enquiry number among the passengers.

PRICE MIX:
Price is one element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; all the other elements produce costs. Prices are easiest marketing mix elements to adjust; product features, 32

channels and even promotion take more time. Price also communicates to the market the companys intended value positioning of its product or brand. Pricing decisions occupy a place of outstanding significance, especially in a utility undertaking. Making available the public transportation facilities to the masses and strengthening the infrastructure base for an all-round development of the country cant be possible unless public transport contribute substantially to the development process. This necessitates due attention on the financial health of Indian. The thrust of the Railway Budget for 2007-08 appears to be an extension of the strategy of volumes to the passenger segment, despite the healthy growth of passenger earnings by 14 per cent. It is also presumably an attempt to curb the inflationary tendency through an across-the-board cut in passenger fares for all classes and by reducing the freight rates of diesel and petrol by 5 per cent and iron ore by 6 per cent. Second class fares have been lowered by a rupee and sleeper fares by 4 per cent. In many sections, the rail fare is lower than the bus fares. As it is, the Rilaways makes loss on passenger services of Rs 7,779 crore on non-suburban sectors. Unlike the West, where losses on account of social service obligations are compensated, the Indian Railways does not get any support from the Exchequer. So a decision to cut fares can be justified only if a costing exercise reveals that with the increased carrying capacity, the revenue receipts will meet the cost of operation or reduce the losses.

Freight segment
In the freight segment, with the spurt in incremental loading, the Railways should have gone in for measures that would have resulted in greater share of rail co-efficient and attracted high rated commodities and petroleum products. This is particularly important as the loading figures up to end of December, though higher in absolute terms, do not add comfort as the rail co-efficient (quantity moved by rail out of production and imports) has declined (Table).Except for coal and cement, there has been a decline in the rail coefficient of other commodities; this should have been gone into and remedial steps initiated. The Railway rates are quite competitive even now. 33

New set of air-conditioned chair cars and three-tier coaches in which fares would be 4 per cent lower during peak and 8 per cent less in off-peak seasons. The Union Minister for Railways announced that there would be no increase in passenger fares during the year 2007-08 for any class of travel. A Variable Fare Scheme has been proposed to be introduced under Dynamic Pricing Policy. Discounts in fares at the rates indicated below shall be given in various classes of travel.

Class AC First AC 2-Tier AC-3 Tier (81 berths) AC-3 Tier (64 berths) AC CC (102 seats) New berths) Sleeper Class (72 berths) Sleeper Coaches

Busy Season 3% 2% 4% Nil 4% (84 4% Nil

Lean Season 6% 4% 8% Nil 8% 4% Nil

In Popular trains, class-wise discounts indicated above for Busy Season shall be applicable through out the year. The list of popular trains shall be notified separately. The government can also consider differential pricing. This differential pricing should be based not just on the low demand routes, wherein low prices are charged but also in the off-seasons and non-peak hours in an otherwise high demand route. Extending this 34

point further the government could go for congestion pricing in routes where there is very high demand for this service and the supply is limited by charging higher prices in these areas. Based on the above stated reasons and the facts that the steadily increasing disposable income of the middle and upper classes has made them less price sensitive than earlier the committee made the following recommendations. Revenue potential from the upper classes needs to be exploited to the maximum extent. They also need to rebalance passenger revenues in a manner consistent with the elasticities of demand for various classes. Creative pricing techniques designed to maximize utilization of available capacity, like off-season discounts, standby discounts etc to be used to augment revenues. Streamlining the ticketing procedure by exploiting opportunities on the net. Improving freight services in terms of waiting times, certainty of delivery schedules, convenience of loading unloading etc. IR has to offer a total logistics package, i.e. it has to develop the capability to picking up small roads, aggregating them initially then disaggregating and delivering them. The margins on the lower class passenger seats range from the non-existent to very minimal. Hence any profit that has to be met has to be through exploiting the higher class passengers. Moreover increasing lower class passenger fares represents too much of a political risk, so that is unlikely to take place. One area that has been neglected is the business traveler segment. More services of the kind provided by trains like Shatabdi should be started between major business centers e.g. Madras-Bangalore etc. Another technique that IR might consider developing is the policy of recovery of at least all of the variable costs associated with every seat in a train. This method is known as marginal cost pricing. The seats which would otherwise have gone unsold on a 35

particular trip could be sold off at minimum prices subject to the fact that the price at least recovers the variable cost. The options like off-season discounts, standby discounts etc could be utilized in this manner. However this would require a high degree of local autonomy at the lowest levels of decision making. Railways have shown that one can earn even while serving the common people, by playing the volume game.

PROMOTION
Of the different forms of promotion, sales representation has been the most widely used in railway business. However, railway sales forces mainly has a passive or reactive, rather than a proactive, role, servicing existing customers rather than seeking out and securing new customers, order taking rather than order generating. Furthermore, these

36

sales forces have not been organized in a way, which would assist them to actively promote railway services and secure new business.

But in recent year, because of tough competition from low cost airlines, RAILWAY is now promoting its luxury trains like Rajdhani express, Shatabdi express, and air condition 1st class services of other express train. For example recently they introduce new imported coach from Germany in Rajdhani express and also provide best services in catering, cleanliness, in special and luxury train etc. RAILWAY has also started educating and advertising new services like reservation of ticket through Internet, SMS, and holiday special train during rush to traffic during holidays and festival seasons. Metro which is recently introduced in Delhi is very comfortable for travelers. This train is very clean, fully air-conditioned and is economical too. Government is also planning to introduce Metro in Bombay. In the context of promoting the service there are incentives for the users and travel agencies and to the frontline staff who are directly instrumental in increasing the business. The incentives to the customers would be in the form of seasonal concessional services, circular trips etc. Word of mouth: it is an important component of promotion in which the satisfied group of customers acts as a hidden sales force and keep themselves engage in promoting the business without charging anything. The aforesaid promotional measures play a decisive role in promoting the business of Indian railways. It is the responsibility of professionals serving the Indian railways that they make an optimal mix of the different components of promotion and use the most effective and sensitive component as per their potentials and requirements. These promotional measures help railways in convincing those segments of the society who are not familiar with the high magnitude of social costs and the problem of cost-pricesqueeze being promoted by the government.

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PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

Train colour: in train there are different compartments for different people. There are first class, second class and handicap class. There are also compartments for luggage. To distinguish first class they have the lines of red color, so than one can come to know that

38

which is first class and which one is second class and in ladies compartment, they have distinguished with green color. Seats: The train has a capacity to seat 100 commuters. The seats are of steel in the second class. In the first class there are seating for only 50 people and seats are very comfortable and of good quality. There are 100 seats which can accommodate 3 persons per seat and no one is allowed to put legs on the seat. In any one found putting legs on the seat, will be fined. In the luggage compartment there are very less seats. Because as name suggests it is a luggage compartment, so they have given much empty space so that one can carry luggage with him. Curtains: this feature is available only in AC trains/ compartments. The curtains are blue in colour. Becausee as they are paying more for travel, they are only given this service. Railing: railway also has a iron railings on each windows for the safety of the passengers and in each compartment there is one window which is for emergency.and all has two types of layer. One is of glass and another one is of iron. So in of any problems one can shut the window by that iron layer and can save his life. Floor: Railway have iron flooring in all the trains because it has to carry heavy load and that can be lifted only by iron. Steps: local trains do not have any steps. They have design a train in such a manner that any one can climb in the train without any problem. And in out stations train there are around 4 steps because out stations can have the low height of platforms, so for convenience of passengers they have designed like this. 39

Lights: in local train there are two lights on every 12 seats which is very sufficient for travelers to read news papers or stuff like that and in out stations train there are two lights for one compartment. Fans: there are around 24 fans in one compartment, which is not sufficient for passengers. And in out station trains there are 3 fans for each compartment. Ticket Checker: Ticket checker or the inspector uniform is light blue in colour. He can check the ticket any time he wants and also passenger has the right to ask for his identity or his batch. Punching machine: There are punching machine on the starting of the platforms. One can buy a coupon of 50 rs. and as and when he requires a ticket, he can punch that coupon and travel with the same. And if TC ask him for ticket he can show that coupon. Tickets: there are two types of ticket, one is printed and another one is punched. In almost every station it is now computerized. Minimum fare is 4 rs. if one person wants to travel 1 station then also he has to pay 4 rs and he will get a ticket of that station. And in this ticket he can travel only once and he has to start his traveling within one hour. If he do not start his traveling within one hour than his ticket is not valid. Train passes: in this it comes in two types that is valid for one month and valid for three months. Railway allows a very good concession to pass holders. Like if suppose a ticket of rs 6 to one destination and return fare is also 6. then he has to pay rs 12 p/day. So it comes upto 360 p/month, and if he buys a pass for one month than he has to pay only rs 96 p/month. Which is very low and person do not have to stand in line to get the ticket. With this pass he can travel any no. of time between the two station which he has

40

selected, which is very good. Also college discounts are given to the students, which minimizes sodt upto 55 60 %. Stations: stations are of different sizes like if on a particular station the out station train are stopping then station will be very long and if it is any local train station than it will be small compared to out-station trains stations. Also on the station there are 3-4 stalls which has almost all the items i.e. water, cold drinks, biscuits, chocolates, etc. also on the stations there are sitting arrangements, fans, good lighting, managers office, etc.

RAILWAYS PROCESS
In the ticketing process consumer first have to go to the ticket window to buy a ticket. This is the first and for most things that one consumer has to do. If a person does not have 41

a ticket or a valid ticket than he has to pay fine. To buy a ticket it takes around 5-10 minutes depending upon the day and time. In the morning to buy a ticket it takes less than 2 minutes but if one goes on afternoon time than surely it will take more than 15 minutes. It also depends upon the stations, on the main stations like Andheri, Dadar it takes lot of time. After purchasing a ticket he has to go to a respective platform from where he can get into a train. There are different platforms to go for Churchgate and Borivali. Train frequency in Mumbai in very fast. In every 2-3 minutes one train comes. There are two types of train fast and slow. Slow stops on every station and fast stops on main junctions or main station like Dadar, Bandra, etc. and also there are 9 coach trains and 12 coach trains. Generally 12 coach trains are for fast and fast trains frequency are less than slow train frequency also there are train for only ladies. So after purchasing he has to go to respective platform and as per his destination he has to take slow train or fast train. Slow train takes 3-4 minutes to reach to the next station and if one person has to go to the churchgate then it takes 1.15 hours in slow train and around 50-55 minutes in fast train. For out station journey, initially passengers who want to go anywhere in India by train he had to stand in long lines to take the ticket from morning 5.30 a.m. and at 10 or 10.30 but now due to e-ticketing person can get ticket online from his home only. He does not have to go to any station. He can book the ticket on net itself. Also one can book tickets online for future date. And for payment there are different modes like cash cards or credit card or through agent.

LAYOUT OF PLATFORMS

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MARKET SEGMENTATION
43

Basis of segmentation Class wise / income wise

Segments 1st class ac sleeper class, Ac 2 tier class car, Ac 3 tier sleeper class, Ac chair car, First class ordinary, Sleeper class ordinary, Chair car ordinary, General class ordinary Ladies special trains Mail, Express, Ordinary fast, Super fast, Luxury, Special. Long distance, Medium distance, Short distance.

Sex wise Speed wise Distance wise

An organization offering to the masses the transportation services is supposed to be well aware of the specialties of a particular segment so that they are in a position to understand, their preferences. It is quite natural that different categories of users avail different modes of transport for different purpose. If the transport professionals know about needs and requirements of a particular segment, the marketing resources can be developed accordingly. The users coming from the rural areas, illiterate persons the agriculturists and industrialists availing the services and like this youths and women, kids and teens using the transportation services expect and behave in a different way. It is against this background that we need to segment the market in the face of changing socio-economic and business requirements. The Indian Railways offer services to the different categories of users, such as farmers, industrialists, general persons rich and poor or so. It is essential that they are familiar with the hierarchy of needs and formulate marketing mix accordingly. The segmentation simplifies their task substantially. The service mix, the product profile, the package can be designed to cater to the changing needs and requirements. An Organization serving rich and poor, rural and urban literate and illiterate, teens and youths, kids and grey, men and women finds it difficult to study the changing needs and 44

requirements of the different segments. It is quite natural that all the users have their own likes and dislikes. The agriculturists and the industrialists, the traders, the institutions use the services of Indian Railways with diverse motives. If the market segmentation is right, the task of developing the marketing resources and satisfying the users is made easier. The Indian Railways are supposed to play the dual role of a public utility service and a commercial undertaking. This imposes on the railways an obligation to meet the transportation requirements of different segments in conformity with socio-economic objectives. Besides, they are also supposed to generate adequate revenue for expansion and development, discharging dividend and other liabilities. For maintaining commercial viability of an undertaking, it is pertinent that market segmentation is done, studied and perceived in a right fashion. Markets consist of buyers and buyers are not homogeneous in terms of their demographic profiles, wants, purchasing power, geographical location, buying attitudes, and buying practices. Therefore it is unlikely that a broad marketing strategy applied across the entire spectrum of a railways customers will succeed, because the needs of some (or probably most) customers will not be met in this process. By contrast, separate marketing strategies focussed on individual customer groups, each consisting of customers with similar characteristics and needs, are more likely to succeed. These customer groups are called market segments and the process of identifying and separating these groups for the purposes of developing marketing plans and strategies and of managing sales force activities is called market segmentation. In the case of railways, however, a two-tier process is likely to be involved. First, the railways customers will be segmented into broad market or business groups, such as: Commuters Medium-long distance passengers Freight customers 45

Parcels and express freight customers

Next, these broad groups will be divided into market segments. For Commuter traffic, it is unlikely that there will be any need for further subdivision of the market, although in the case of a few of the regions railways, premium or first class commuter services are provided with the aim of capturing higher income business travellers, who might otherwise use private automobiles. For example, in local trains, there are 2nd class compartments and 1st class compartments. 1st class compartments have cushioned seats whereas 1st class does not have cushioned seats. In Mumbai, Railways are planning to introduce local trains with AC compartments so that commuters who otherwise prefer to travel by car will shift to Rail transport. This category can further be divided in terms of SEX ie. male or female. There are local trains only for ladies known as ladies special. These kinds of trains are being run only in the local railways. No long distance trains are being made ladies special. This segment is being made to cater to womens during the peak hours in order to make the travel more comfortable.

For Medium-Long Distance Passenger traffic, this segment includes trains that run over medium and long distances. According to the distance the kind of facilities provided change. For example, trains which cover long distances have sleeper class for more convenience whereas medium distance trains according to the time of travel may or may not have sleeper class.

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The railways system recognizes the following types of classes of travel and accommodation CLASSES

First class Air-conditioned (AC) AC 2-tier sleeper First class AC 3 Tier AC chair Car Sleeper Class Second Sitting

ACCOMMODATION TYPES

Berths Seats Chair car

This segment can be further categories on the basis of demographic/income characteristics may be appropriate. While segmenting on the basis of income, the purchasing power of travelers has to be taken into consideration. Higher the price people pay, lower is their zone of tolerance and better service they want. For example, if an individual is travelling in 1st class compartment of local Mumbai train, he wants to get better service as compared to that of 2nd class.

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The Deccan Odyssey from Mumbai to PUNE is one of the Indian Railways best loved trains. Despite the advent of much faster and more modern trains in recent years, the Queen continues to stand out in a class of her own. Indeed, the Deccan Odyssey has only aptly been described as the Blue Eyed Babe of the Indian Railways. The services provided by this train cannot be compared with any other train. The quality of food, its interiors, arriving on time, catering service are all world class. Other facilities which are available include Ayurvedic Massage Centre, Steam Bath, Gymnasium, Beauty Parlour Lounge in each passenger car, Telephone in each saloon, Plasma TV in Lounge Car, Money exchange facility / credit cards, Spa Car among others. But this service does not come cheap. Another train which offers very good service is PALACE OF WHEELS, a novel and thrilling holiday concept of a railway cruise. It transports travellers into a bygone era of princes, palaces & medieval fortresses and takes through the heart of colourful Rajasthan. This fully air-conditioned train is a legend on wheels, dazzling in the aura of gleaming brass with ceilings of painted silk and walls adorned with old paintings, all aglow with the warmth of yesteryears. To enliven the journey, Palace on Wheels has been refurbished and renovated with all modern comforts including central air-conditioning and vestibules for inter-saloon access. It provides world-class services like best quality of food, best personnel catering to the passengers, the kind of bedding, no delay in the service delivery, customization in various services, etc. but also the cost of such experience is high. As the consumers are not just fooled or being looted but are being charged for the services provided.

Within the higher income, business or tourist segments thus identified in the MediumLong Distance Passenger market, there may be a further subdivision into service-based segments (e.g. air-conditioned sitting car services and air-conditioned sleeping car services).

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But railways cannot ignore other section of the society who cannot afford luxury trains and therefore there are trains which are cheap but they do not provide food inside the train. However, people who are travelling can buy food. This segment can further be classified into fast and slow trains. This segment is being made to distinguish the time it takes to deliver the service. Fast trains are able to make passengers reach their destination at the least possible time, so as to save the time of passengers. Due to which the cost of traveling in such kind of trains is quiet high. Business class people prefer traveling in these trains. Also there are trains that take more time to reach the destination and charge less to the passengers. People who make casual visits or those who are not in a hurry to reach the destination prefer this type of trains. There are two superfast trains namely: RAJDHANI EXPRESS is India's super fast, fully air conditioned, deluxe train give travellers the unique opportunity of experiencing Indian Railways at its best. Afternoon snacks and tea are offered after the trains begin their journey. Indian and continental cuisine, soft music and the train's rhythmic movement provides a comfortable journey. The trains link New Delhi (the capital or Rajdhani) to India's major cities. SHATABDI EXPRESS is another super fast that links major cities and offer facilities for quick and comfortable travel. The Shatabdi hospitality treats its passengers with meals and snacks.

For Freight customers, the subdivision into market segments is likely to be based on a combination of commodity type and handling mode (bulk, breakbulk and container). Almost all of the regions railways now identify container traffic as a segment in its own right. Other segments are mainly commodity-based. For example, in addition to containers, the Indian Railways identify 10 or 11 commodity based segments. Each 49

freight segment generally has its own requirements in terms of loading/transport cycle, wagon type, handling method and tariff (price). The commodity segments actually identified will be of particular significance to the railway seeking to segment its markets While there appears to be no obvious basis for the segmentation of parcels and express freight traffic, it is likely that this market may be subdivided on the basis of timesensitivity (e.g. overnight delivery, second day delivery, etc.). For example, courier mails which are sent since there is urgency of reach and therefore they are sent by express trains rather than slow trains.

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SERVICE DELIVERY
Jousting for space in serpentine queues might well be a thing of the past with rail travel set to become a more relaxed affair. That elusive reserved train ticket can now be purchased from the local post office, petrol pumps and even ATMs. As far as unreserved tickets go, about 6,000 automatic ticket vending machines will be installed in all major cities. PRS-cum-UTS (unreserved ticketing system) counters will be provided at post offices as well as defence organisations. In another welcome measure, central railways will also start a pilot project for issuing tickets through multi-purpose smart cards from Mumbai, followed by Chennai and Kolkata. The smart cards can be both bought and recharged at various designated points and they will be readable on touch by hand-held terminals provided to TTEs. Train enquiry call centres will start operating in the four major railway hubs between June and September this year, providing information on departures, arrivals and seat availability. They will also provide value-added services like SMS, railway ticketing and taxi booking in the near future. Physically challenged people too might finally get an easier ride. More than 1,200 special coaches with wider doors and greater aisle passage for handicapped passengers will also be introduced in mail and express trains over the next two years. To make travel more easy for vendors, custom-designed vendor coaches will be built for milk, vegetable and fruit sellers. In addition to all that, a certain number of lower berths will be reserved for senior citizens and women aged above 45.

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4 Is of MARKETING
INTANGIBILITY Intangible services are difficult to sell because they cannot be produced and displayed ahead of time. They are therefore harder to communicate to prospective customers. It means that services are high in credence qualities whereas goods are high in search qualities. Services are experiential impossible to sample prior to purchase. Marketers of services can reduce these risks by stressing tangible cues that will convey reassurance and quality to the prospective customers. These tangible cues range from the firm's physical facilities to the appearance and demeanor of its staff to the letterhead on its stationery to its logo. In the railway industry transportation is the core product. Since it is intangible in nature a service company can distinguish itself from its competitors by providing several tangible clues like: Catering services Logos Colour and design. Baggage place Better booking or Ticketing arrangements Bedding Safety instruments Clean and well built railway stations Proper urinal facilities at the railway stations and trains Cushioned seats inside the trains. Proper display of reservation charts in case of trains Drinking water facilities at railway stations Staff uniform & Well-trained personnel for complaint handling or grievances. 52

INSEPARABILITY Services cannot be separated from the service providers. A product when produced can be taken away from the producer. However a service is produced at or near the point of purchase. It refers to the simultaneous production and consumption of services. The production process of services has been called servuction process. In the railway industry, it is very important for the company to consider the customers as a part of the company in order to serve them better. The inseparability of services leads to The customer being present when the service is produced. The customer playing a role in the servuction and the delivery process. Customers interact with one another during the servuction process and may be affected (positively or negatively) by this interaction. Service quality depends highly on what happens in real time, i.e. during the service encounter. Since customers have a vital role in the servuction and delivery process, the service provider needs great skills to train them how to play their role. The service provider must prove excellence each time the service is produced. The service provider needs skills in order to tackle disruptions in the servuction process, caused by problem customers. All the above problems are faced by the service marketer in the railway industry. So the service marketer has to think of ways in which he can satisfy his consumers in an efficient manner. In the railway industry, the customer has to be physically present in the service factory. Hence, he is coming in direct contact with the service provider as well as other customers of the rail.

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INCONSISTENCY Different front-line personnel have different abilities. Even the same service provider has good days and bad days or may be less focused at different times of day. Services are performances, often involving the cooperation and skill of several individuals, and are therefore unlikely to be same every time. This potential variability of service quality raises the risk faced by the consumer. The service provider must find ways to reduce the perceived risk due to variability. One method is to design services to be as uniform as possible - by training personnel to follow closely defined procedures, or by automating as many aspects of the services as possible. E.g.: Railways now have online booking resulting in a standardized procedure & fewer mistakes due to human errors. A second way to deal with perceived risk from variability is to provide satisfaction guarantees or other assurances that the customer will not be stuck with a bad result. Another way of reducing inconsistency in railways is the standardization of all the halts of the train or even the standardization of the procedure of supplying with food and other services in the train.

INVENTORY (perishability): Inventory is defined as an idle resource of any kind that has potential economic value and considered as locked up capital. A practical definition from the materials management angle would be item of store or materials kept in stock to meet future demands of production, repairs, maintenance, construction etc. Materials play an important role in Railways both in production of new assets and in the operation and maintenance of the existing assets. Therefore their continuous availability is a prime requirement for uninterrupted working. In improving profitability, reduction of input costs is a major parameter and since expenditure on men and machine is more or less fixed, the only field where economy may be possible is management of materials.

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Expenditure on purchase of materials on Indian Railways needed for operation, maintenance and production, etc. is of magnitude of 11,000 crores, which include 37% stores for operation, repairs and maintenance, 2% stores for construction, 38% stores for manufacture of rolling stock. Indian Railways has 215 stores depots spread all over stocking 2.8 lakhs item, are the main hubs of inventory holding. Service businesses cannot normally stockpile their output, because the time bound nature of service delivery makes it impossible to inventory the finished goods. Inventory on Railways can be classified according to its usage and its point of entry into operation i.e. raw materials, work in process, finished goods, tools, consumables, spares etc. which are briefly summarized as under : Raw materials are major input, which gets converted into final output. Any breakdown in supply will result in production stoppage in the workshop/production units. Usually their annual usage value is also quite high. Consumables are materials, which assist the production or maintenance but do not figure significantly in the final output i.e. cotton waste, brooms, welding electrodes, paints, stationery, bedding, etc. Work in progress are materials in intermediate stages of production and remain in inventory due to protective buffer, economic lot production awaiting. Conversely, when demand for service exceeds supply, the excess business may be lost. If someone cannot get a seat in one train another railway gets the business or the trip is cancelled or postponed. Railways face the problem of inventory mainly due to irregular demand patterns.

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Quality Dimensions: RATER Analysis

Customers dont assess the quality of service on one dimension only, they use multiple parameters to judge the quality of the service that they are being offered. These characteristics which people consider vary from person to person, industry to industry. Even depend upon the product on offer. Because of the intangibility and multifaceted nature of many services, it may be harder to evaluate the quality of a service than a good. Because the customers are often involved in the service production a distinction needs to be drawn between the process of service delivery and the actual output of the service. The most extensive research into service quality is strongly user oriented.

Services are broadly classified into 10 dimensions namely: Tangibility Reliability Responsiveness Competence Courtesy Credibility Security Access Communication Understanding the customer Since most of these dimensions are overlapping they were pooled down to five dimensions as given below: 56

Reliability Assurance Tangibles Empathy Responsiveness

When we look at these dimensions with respect to the railway industry we find that the following service qualities are expected by the customer. Reliability Trains to promised destinations depart and Arrive on schedule Assurance trusted name, good safety record, Competent employees Tangibles train, ticketing counters, uniforms Empathy understanding of special individual needs, anticipates customer needs Responsiveness - prompt and speedy system for ticketing, in- train service.

RELIABILITY- Much of the safety and comfort of a rail journey depends on the track and its maintenance. The present track structure on the main routes of the Indian Railways compares with the best anywhere in the world regarding its traffic carrying capacities. This has been possible because of the use of state-of-the-art machines. The railway signalling system is to be continuously modernized to cope with the rising traffic density and to meet better safety standards. Provides safe and dependable train services; Notified standards are set for various services wherever possible; Ensure adequate passenger amenities in trains and at railway stations; Provides courteous and efficient counter services; and Responsible and effective grievance redressal machinery is set up, at various levels for time bound resolution of complaints and grievances as far as possible.

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It is also one of the cheapest modes of transport and its quite fast and also has a good passengers caring capacity and hence its reliable.

ASSURANCE: Assurance relates to knowledge and accuracy of employees and their ability to convey trust and confidence. This dimension is of great significance for services where a customer perceives high risk and is not sure of the outcomes. The employees should have a positive morale & should be motivated if they have to promote the firm & create a sense of assurance in the flyers mind. Rajdhani is generally considered the most customer friendly of the mail trains. The staff there is more cordial to old people or little kids who might be travelling. Though Railways have few staff yet they assure that everyone is comfortably seated. Besides this, after the multiple bomb blasts, there was a lot of scepticism in the travellers & to instill confidence in the consumers mind, the government paid greater emphasis on security in the railway policy. The RPF was increased. There were dog squads added. They have female inspectors in the ladies compartment in the suburban trains. All these measures were taken to build up the confidence and assure the commuters a safe travel. The railway also assures the passengers of time tables containing details of various trains run by the Railway Administration and other relevant information for passengers are made available at most of the railway stations. Indian Railways is already extending the use of Internet to assist passengers book e-tickets over the ATM. Railways also make all endeavors to provide information to passengers on telephone at important stations regarding arrival/departure/reservation status etc. The position of running of trains is updated regularly and the latest available position is announced on the Public Address System at the important stations and it is also made available to passengers on telephone/personal enquiries.

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Computerized Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) capable of providing information to the public automatically over the phone is provided to facilitate easy access to information at stations handling large volume of passengers. Handy information pamphlets in local languages containing details of different types of concessions to which passengers are eligible and other relevant passenger information is made available at Book Stalls and Railway Counters on payment of nominal charges. All these measures enhance the reliability of the passengers on the railways

TANGIBLES Tangible features would be those physical features, which can be seen by the customer. These would be the physical proofs, which would help the customer to judge the quality of service. The customers evaluate the quality of these services on the basis of the tangibles provided by the service providers. The marketers of services emphasize on tangiblising the intangibles. The tangibles would also include the infrastructural facilities present at the stations. Theses infrastructural facilities would include trolleys, water coolers, government authorized food stalls, book stalls, restrooms, waiting rooms, cloak rooms. The on-board tangibles would include the cushioned seats, the bedding provided, the pantry attached to the cars, the bottle holders, foldable tables, curtains in certain compartment for their privacy. Most important is stressing on the need for cleanliness in trains. The uniform of the staff in the train also leave an impact on the passengers. During this year, a special campaign will be launched to ensure cleanliness and hygiene at station premises, in passenger trains, railway lines and waiting rooms.

EMPATHY: Empathy basically is when the employees of the organisation make the customer feel at home, at ease, making him feel wanted. The easiest way for trains to maintain and grow its client base is to be empathetic towards their customers, to understand their specific needs and to cater to them. The railway ministry is planning to

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serve Food in trains which will be brought at par with the airlines with variable menus and diet food for sick passengers.

The railway industry offers concessions for women, senior citizens and the physically challenged. Senior citizens and ladies face considerable inconvenience when they are allotted upper or middle berths. Therefore, quota of adequate lower berths will be provided in AC and Sleeper classes for senior citizens and women above the age of 45, traveling alone. Eight more garib raths (trains for the poor), extended the run of 23 trains and increased the frequencies of 14 others.

Concession for students: There is 50 per cent travel concessions provided in the budget for students appearing in UPSC main examinations. This was done in an act to help the unemployed students across the country who have to travel across cities to take the UPSC exams.

Special coaches for handicapped passengers: The railways have manufactured SLRD and SRD coaches for the convenience of handicapped passengers. These specially designed coaches are equipped with wider doors, wider cushioned seats, more aisle passage and specially designed toilets for passengers on wheel-chair.

Introduction of Vendors Coaches: The railway ministry is empathetic towards all the classes of society. Vendor coaches will be provided for Milk and vegetable vendors and other retail sellers to transport milk, fruits and vegetables by trains. Due to absence of earmarked space in the passenger trains, these vendors carry their milk cans and baskets hanging from the windows.

Concession for tourist : Thousands of people come to Mumbai from outside for tourism and various other purposes For the benefit of such people, the railways have 60

decided to issue tourist tickets valid for, one, three and five days on the Mumbai Suburban Service. Such ticket holders will be able to travel any number of times, from any station to any station on the suburban sections of Central and Western Railways of Mumbai. As a result of this, passengers will not have to stand in a queue again and again to buy tickets. The railway ministry is trying to make each customer feel like he is a unique asset to the company & like their single most important client.

The ministry is not only passionate about their external customers but they also show extreme compassion for their internal customers i.e. staff. Immediate relief in times of crisis arising out of natural calamities is provided to the staff. Training for developing occupational skills of physically challenged children especially girls, of Railway employees are given. Recruitment of candidates from backward classes are done to give them employment.

RESPONSIVENESS: Responsiveness is willingness to help the customers and provide prompt service. The degree of responsiveness shows the level of commitment that the people of the company have towards their work. It is very necessary for the company to concentrate on prompt & the right kind of responsiveness to the needs of the customer. As in the case of railways where in an emergency when the passenger pulls the chain the train halts and an attendant and ticket checker attend the passenger. Further their responsiveness can be seen when a passenger can get his ticket upgraded i.e. if a passenger is holding an AC 3tier ticket and wants to upgrade it to AC 2tier he can do so if there is vacancy by paying the difference fair.

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The luggage of the passengers can also be moved into the luggage van as per the space available. Incase a family is traveling with infants their needs of hot milk etc. can be met by the railway staff if there is a pantry car attached to the train. First aid boxes: First Aid Boxes are available with the Guards of all passenger carrying trains and at railway stations. First aid assistance is provided to passengers getting injured on the train free of charge. If a person falls sick during journey, a doctor can be called at the next stopping station where a Railway Doctor is headquartered on payment of specified charges. Assistance in accidents: Whenever a serious accident occurs, action is taken by Railway Administration as promptly as possible to: Save life and alleviate suffering; Protect property, including mail; Ascertain the cause of the accident; Restore through communication; Provide succor to passengers at the site of the accident; Transship stranded passengers by providing road vehicles and adequate number of porters; Rushing of medical van or accident relief train; and Arrange to inform the next kin of the deceased or seriously injured.

Quick response to customers in case of any problem faced by the passenger shows the sensitivity of the railways towards their customers. The Station Masters of certain important Station/Reservation Offices have been granted special discretionary powers to grant refund on unused tickets, issued from their stations, on which refund is not normally admissible at the station on account of expiry of the time limits prescribed in the rules. This also shows the responsiveness of the railway authorities.

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All the five dimensions are basically into serving the best to the customers, giving them quality services and if things were followed as they are demanded, (i.e., according to the customers demand) then there would be no problems in facing any type of people. The successful service organizations set up speeds for service standards.

SERVICE ENCOUNTER
The interaction between the customer and service provider in the Railways means that the employee often represents the company to the railway travelers (customers). The customer comes in direct contact with the employees of the Railways. The Railways organizational structure and culture dictates the extent to which responsibility for staff recruitment, training and motivation is shared between marketing operations and human resources. For service marketers in this industry, the core of service element is the interaction between those providing services and the customer is known as service encounter. Critical incidents Critical incidents are specific encounters between customers and service employees that are especially satisfying or dissatisfying for one or both parties. In Railways critical incidents are very important as they help Railways evaluate and measure satisfaction level of the customers. The critical incident technique is a methodology for collecting and categorizing such incidents in service encounters. Service gap A service firm may win by delivering consistently higher quality service than competitors and exceeding customers expectations. These expectations are formed by their past experiences, word of mouth and advertisement. After receiving the service customers 63

compare the perceived service with the expected service. If the perceived service falls below the expected service customers lose interest in the provider. If the perceived service meets or exceeds the expectations they are apt to use the provider again. The model shown identifies 5 gaps that cause unsuccessful delivery in the Railways.

a. Gap between consumer expectation and management perception Management does not always perceive correctly what customers want. In Railways, it might perceive its target customers to be ambience driven and not price driven but in reality it might turn out to be the other way. For example, if an individual is travelling by Palace on Wheels which is a premium train, he would want good ambience, good food and service and will not mind paying little premium for these services. On the other hand, an individual who travels in local train might not like to pay for all these additional services. b. Gap between management perception and service quality specification Management might correctly perceive what its customers want but not set specified performance standards. Railways who thoroughly understands what its customers want but due to external factors like lack of resources and the fact that it is a government run organization due to which there is a lot of political interference restricting the company from performing at its best. c. Gap between service-quality specifications and service delivery The personnel might be poorly trained or incapable or unwilling to meet the standards. Or they may be held to conflicting standards such as taking time to listen to customers and serving them fast. For example, if the Ticket collector is not friendly with the passengers and does not reply to their problems it will result in this service gap. 64

Gap between service delivery and external communications

Consumer expectations are affected by statements made by company representatives and ads. This gap occurs when the consumer misperceives the service quality. This is a combination of one or more of the previous gaps and provides a clear indication of the degree of which service quality exists in the service organizations. The company sometimes overpromises its customers through advertisements, uncontrolled communication to customers, lack of internal communication in letting the production people know what was promised. This gap does not arise in case of railways as it does not undergo promotion and hence this gap does not come into picture.

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SERVICE RECOVERY
When the company fails to stand for its promises made to the customer on the basis they build expectation, its to be said that there is service failure. When the service failure occurs, there can be again severe ramification. Customer is considered to be the bread and butter, hence retaining them is the biggest challenge, and however service failure acts as an obstacle to it. In such failures, 1) The customer wants what they were promised. 2) Customer wants personal attention 3) Customer wants a decent apology 4) Customers want that they should not be made to feel that they are the cause of the problem. (Though in many cases they are responsible for nuisance) There are again five steps involved in order to deal with service failure. They are mentioned as below 1st step: acknowledgement and apology for the fact. 2nd step: listening to the customers. 3rd step: avoid defending the company and offer a rational explanation. 4th step: offer some extra benefits 5th step: have a proper follow up and make sure no mistakes this time, so that he can easily forget about the service failure and is retained. A customer expects 3 shorts of fairness in case of service recovery. They are mentioned as below.

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1. Interaction fairness: - when there is service failure, first the company is supposed to acknowledge the customer. Due to this the customer might turn erate, but he still expects fairness and courtesy in the language and tone used by the addresser 2. Procedure fairness: - to know in detail about the incidence of service failure or to avail the compensation. There should be simplicity in procedure, which is involved. Service failure and complexity in procedure both together might result in a disaster as far as customer is concern. 3. Outcome fairness: - now when the company realizes that there is service failure they should end up compensating, arranging for some alternative mode of transporting or complies with the customer condition. The outcome should be taken by considering the customer, his needs and the companys policy. The replacement of steam cranes by high capacity diesel cranes and of non-standard stock by ICF all coil coaches along with induction of hydraulic re-railing equipment have imparted considerable capability to the Accident Relief Train. There has been general upgradation of tools and tackles and the amenities to the staff, which has raised their productivity. Yet, the response to the accidents and emergencies continues to fall short of the expectations. The induction of modern rolling stock has increased the operating speed of the Accident Relief Trains and brought down the transit time between the base depot to the accident site from the earlier 8-10 hours to 4-5 hours now. The fire brigade personnel are well trained in evacuating passengers trapped inside the coaches.

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SERVICE TRIANGLE
Service marketers face marketing challenges which revolve around issues such as: Understanding customers needs and expectations of services, Making services tangible to customers and Keeping and dealing with promises made to the customers.

The services marketing triangle helps service marketers to address these challenges. The three points of the service triangle represent the organization, the customers, and the employees. Between each of the three points of the triangle different marketing processes such as external marketing, interactive marketing and internal marketing must be successfully carried out for service processes to succeed and to build and maintain relationships with the internal and external customers.

Company

Provider
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Customers

COMPANY Promises made by company in advertisements and through promotions are used by customers to form service expectations. These can also positively or negatively influence the customers initial expectations of the desired level of service compared to the adequate level of service. Customers use price as an indication of the quality of the offering, while the promise of availability and accessibility of an offering has an impact on the customers service expectations. However, for service organizations, factors such as service employees, organization image and visible structures, and the actual service process itself, form the basis for customers expectations of the offering and the delivery thereof. Customers expectations and experiences fuse, therefore much of their final belief is drawn from the environment in which they receive the service and the personalities and behaviour of the people they encounter during service processes. The organizations projected values and integrity must be the priorities that govern the promises made to the customers during the external marketing process. Customers expect consistent and realistic promises that will at all times be honoured by the organization. Creating unrealistic customer expectations create dissatisfied customers. Misleading customers or over-promising to them can negatively influence the relationship between the organization and the customer. In case of Railways, it promises its passengers on time and safe journey. Also it provides low cost of transportation facility as compared to other modes of transportation like airways. However, now days airlines have come up with low cost carriers which are posing threat to Indian Railways and therefore it is very important for Railways to maintain its position by providing good services and affordable journey.

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PROVIDER The marketing focus of service organizations has shifted from the offering to the customers, to the interaction that takes place between the service employees and the customers. Through their interactions with employees, customers form a perception of the integrity of an organizations service promises. They furthermore use the interaction to assess the value of the offering, and to make the decision to purchase or repeat the purchase of an offering. From a customers point of view, this is the most important stage of the service delivery process as it is during this process that they receive the value they actually desire. Interactive marketing performs a vital function in the establishment of a relationship between the organization and the customer. The customers perception of the service is derived from the delivery of the service, and cannot be separated from the contact they experience with service employees. Therefore, it can be argued that relationships are an inevitable outcome of service delivery. However, it is important for organizations to acknowledge the fact that relationships do not necessarily exist between the organization and the customer, but to a greater extent between the service employees and customers. The success of these relationships depends profoundly on the attitude service employees have towards their employment and their loyalty towards the organization. It is the responsibility of the organization to recruit service-orientated employees very carefully, involve them in organization activities, and motivate them to follow the examples set by the leaders of the organization. During interaction, employees and customers meet face to face and the actions of service employees will be a major factor in influencing the customers expectations of the service. Customers evaluation of services is based on their interaction with service employees, therefore it is of the utmost importance that service organizations continuously strive to improve the quality of interactions.

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In case of railways, the passengers come in contact with many personnel of railways. First contact of passengers is made with the ticket counter person. The person issuing tickets should be amiable and friendly and should help passengers if any problem arises. The next encounter is with the person who carries luggage. These persons carry the luggage of the passengers to the train. Next is with the ticket collector. This person should be friendly and ready to help passengers in case of any kind of emergency. Also, he can provide passengers with information like which station will come next and for how long the train will stop there etc. CUSTOMERS Customers in case of Railways are those people who feel the need of travelling from one place to another. These could long distance passengers or short distance passengers. If people are travelling long distance, they should be provided with certain facilities like meals, sleeping berth etc for their convenience. However, for short distance travellers provision of meals is not necessary.

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GUARANTEE & WARRANTY

A guaranty is an undertaking or promise that is the answer to or payment for a debt or default. A guaranty is also something given or held as security until a debt is paid or the performance of a duty is fulfilled In case of failure to provide a berth or seat in the class of travel for which a confirmed reservation is held by a passenger, the Railway Administration either offer accommodation in an alternate lower class of travel and refund the difference in fare between the two classes or refund the entire fare and reservation charges if the passenger so desire. In case of failure of air-conditioning equipment on run affected passenger is refunded the difference in Fare between AC and Non-AC class of travel for the portion traveled without air-conditioning. Such refund is granted on Guard/TTes certificate. As far as possible, refunds are made across the counter, provided the ticket is surrendered within the specified time limit. Such refund on tickets can be obtained, either at the originating stations or the ticket issuing station and in the case of computerized tickets at the computerized counter of any station provided it is linked with the ticket issuing station and the ticket is presented within the prescribed time limit. No claim for refund is entertained by Indian Railways in case of lost or misplaced tickets. Refund of fare will be granted in respect of a torn or mutilated ticket if its authenticity is verifiable on the basis of the particulars visible on the face of the ticket. However, if such a ticket is reserved/RAC, the Railway may permit the travel on the same reservation on payment of the following charges:25% of total fare, in the case of tickets for journey upto 500 kms. 72

10% of total fare, in the case of tickets for journey more than 500 kms., subject to the minimum payment of 25% of total charges for reserved/Reservation Against Cancellation (RC) ticket of 500 kms. and 25% of total fare, irrespective of distance, for tickets of trains which have separate all inclusive fare structure like Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, etc.

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FLOWER OF SERVICE
Information

Payment

Consultancy

Billing

8 PETALS

Order-Taking

Exceptions Safety

Hospitality

1. INFORMATION A marketer needs to provide adequate information to his employees and his customers. This information is general information provided through various communication channels. People who are travelling by train can get information in the following ways: Travellers can access information regarding the schedule of trains, fares, concessions, their PNR status etc which is available on their site. They can get all this information by logging on the site - www.indianrail.gov.in. 74

On railways stations books are available which give information regarding the routes and the timing of various local trains. People can call and get information on the railway helpline. By calling on this number, they can access their PNR status, know whether the train is on time or is delayed and various other information. People will soon be able to make train enquiries at local call rates from any part of the country by dialing a common telephone number. The facility will be available from June to September in all the four regions of the country. By dialing 139 at enquiry call centres to be established soon, passengers will be able to obtain information about arrival and departure of trains, seat availability and so on at local call rates from any part of the country. Reliance telecom has also introduced a service by way of which they can log on to R-world from their cell phones and get the necessary information. There are boards on railway stations which also provide information about the schedule of trains. Information can also be availed by sending SMS to Railway SMS Enquiry Numbers : 7070,676747,6677,8888,7886. Announcements are also made on the platforms which tell which local train is arriving shortly, also whether it is a fast or a slow train and its final destination. Announcements are also made to inform Travellers with regard to change of route, if any of the local train so that it is convenient for people to move to that platform and catch their local train and frees them for the confusion. There are TV screens also on stations showing the timing of trains, their departure and arrival. customer-friendly measures, notably the sale of e-tickets at gas stations and from automatic teller machines. Under the existing PRS system, reservation charts are taken out a few hours before the departure of trains. Often, due to unforeseen circumstances, several passengers with reservations do not travel. As a result many berths remain vacant. Since this information is not fed into the PRS system, passengers on board the trains or waitlisted passengers at ensuing stations are not aware of the vacancy position. Therefore railways have proposed to provide hand held computer 75

terminals to TTEs, in reserved coaches. The TTE will feed in the current vacancy position, coach wise and berth wise in to these hand held terminals. These terminals will be directly linked to the PRS system to transmit the berth reservation position from running trains to the PRS system. Based on this information the PRS will allot vacant berths to waitlisted passengers at ensuing stations.

2. CONSULTANCY This is additional customized information provided to the potential customers by the service provider. Consultancy is a kind of suggestions provided to the people when he is interested in gaining more information about a product or a service of a particular industry. This method has become an attractive tool for the industries as it helps in turning people into your customers. Therefore, many industries started adopting this strategy of gaining more and more people. In case of Railways, there is no special consultancy provided. Since railway is a public undertaking and also the rates are very nominal, therefore there is not much need for consultancy. Whatever information travelers need to know they can ask at the ticket counter. The only form of consultancy that exists in railways is through travel agents with whom travelers consult with respect to which train will suit their budget, timing and other factors. 3. ORDER TAKING Order taking refers to the procedure of order given by the customer to the industry for the required services. It should be done without mistakes. Following are the ways in which travellers can place their order of booking their ticket: People who wish to travel by train can book their ticket on the website if Indian Railways. They can then print the ticket and carry with them. 76

Tickets can also be booked through travel agents who book tickets on behalf of their customers. Another way people can book tickets is by going to the railway station and booking ticket there. Tickets can now be booked by way of sending SMS to their respective telephone operators or by logging on to R-World for Reliance customers.

The number of computerised unreserved ticketing system (UTS) terminals will be raised to 8000 in the next two years from the current 2200 terminals. Presenting the Rail Budget for 2007-08, it is also proposed to install an additional 6000 automatic ticket vending machines in major cities that will be connected with the UTS terminals over the next two years. Tickets would be made available at a press of a button by using smart cards or currency coins. The coupon ticketing system introduced for suburban passengers in Mumbai is also proposed to be extended to Chennai and Kolkata. Central Railways would also undertake a pilot project of issuing tickets through multipurpose smart cards. Under this scheme, customers will have the facility to obtain monthly season ticket (MST) as well as daily ticket on the same smart card this would alleviate to a large extent the problem of long queues at ticket counters. The call centres will have international facilities like sms alert. In future these centres will provide several services like railway ticketing, taxi booking and hotel booking.

4. HOSPITALITY
Hospitality is a very pretty petal, reflecting pleasure at meeting new customers and greeting old ones when they return. Hospitality finds its full expression in face-to-face encounters.

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It previews the performance of the services provided or the behavior in which the service provider reacts to their customers. It has always been a kind of ritual in India for offering a warm welcome to their guest. That is, it is basically a service performance. It includes various aspects such as the surrounding, infrastructure, appearance, speaking tone etc. It can either click the customer or flip the customer. There are five centralized Training Institutes (CTIs) on the Indian Railways. While four other CTIs impart training mainly to the officers of one specified discipline Railway Staff College runs training courses for officers of all disciplines and all grades right from Probationers to prospective General Managers. Railway Staff College conducts two types of courses for development of managerial skills of Railway officers. They are known as the Management Development Program (MDP) and the Advanced Management Program (AMP). These programs are meant for officers, at different levels of seniority, and cover most of the disciplines. These programs train all the people for their work such as issuing tickets, reservation counterparts, handling finance etc. During the journey, people are offered by various facilities like bedding, food, drinks, tea, coffee, soups etc. They are also planning to introduce an extensive programme of training to develop market and customer friendly attitude amongst frontline staff, who are in constant contact with the customers at selected stations. Upon the success of this programme, it would be extended throughout the country. Railway employees and officers require training at periodical intervals in view of rapid changes in the underlying economic and competitive environment. Therefore they have decided that Railway officials will be sent on training to reputed national institutions once every five years and for foreign training every ten years. Officers would have to undergo a mandatory training before promotion to JA, SA and HA grade. It has been decided to set up a Chair at IIM Ahmadabad to encourage research in Railway infrastructure and management.

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5. SAFETY It is the process and procedures used by marketers to safe guard and to maintain secrecy. Safety basically, refers to how much the customer feels safe when he is using the services provided to him. It can also be considered as a kind of protection given to the customers, their belongings, and any other things related to them. For Railways, it is very necessary for them to keep its promise of providing safe journey as they are responsible for the lives of many people. Therefore, safety is the prime concern of India Railways and adoption of new measures to improve safety is a continuous process. The measures being taken by Indian Railways to minimize incidence of accidents include adoption of suitable modern technology for interlocking and signaling system, upgradation standards of track and rolling stock, modernization of maintenance practices, replacement of over aged assets, provision of ACD and upgradation of training aid like simulators. In addition, equipments like CCTV and smart video cameras have been installed at sensitive stations. Intensive training is being also imparted to Railway Protection Force, in order to increase their professional expertise and efficiency. In the case of tickets which are lost or stolen in railways, no refund is allowed against lost/misplaced tickets. Loss of tickets should be reported to railways immediately to prevent fraudulent refunds on lost tickets. Refund on torn/mutilated ticket is admissible subject to the deduction of cancellation charges as per rules, provided that the authenticity of such a ticket is verified at the station on the basis of particulars visible on the face of ticket. But duplicate tickets are issued only in case of lost/torn/mutilated/ confirmed/RAC tickets. In case of lost property in trains, a police complaint is lodged which are generally located nearby railway stations. Then these complaints are implemented. However, in the trains space are provided to keep their luggage. There are also special cupboards given for the luggage in some trains so as to ensure that luggage of travelers is not lost.

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To improve safety and security in the wake of the recent blasts railways would install doorframes and hand-held metal detectors, CCTVs and smart video cameras to detect explosives at many sensitive divisions. Number of trained dogs will be increased in the existing squads, Eight thousand vacancies will be filled in the RPF on all India basis. Testing of anti-collision device is also planned to be launched in coming years. General managers have been empowered to sanction subways costing upto Rs 50 lakh on unmanned level crossings for reducing accidents. Production of improved crashworthy coaches will be increased. Railway safety is our prime concern. I am glad to inform the House that funds for replacement of overaged Railway assets are now provided as soon as the assets become due for replacement. Sir, we have allocated Rs.5,500 crore towards Depreciation Reserve Fund for the year 2007-08 as compared to Rs.2,100 crore provided in 2001-02. This has had a direct impact on Railways safety record. Although the gross traffic volume has increased from 724 Million train kilometres in 2001-02 to 825 Million train kilometres in 2005-06, the number of accidents is expected to be less than 200 in 2006-07 against 473 in the year 2001.

Of the Rs.17,000 crore Special Railway Safety Fund, most of the works of renewal of overaged tracks, bridges, track circuiting and rolling stock will be completed by March 2007 and all remaining works will be completed by March 2008. Sir, as per our Corporate Safety Plan, the testing of Anti-Collision Device on North East Frontier Railway is in its last phase and is likely to be completed by March 2007. Besides this, the General Managers of the Zonal Railways have been delegated the powers to approve construction of subways costing upto Rs, 50 lacs, to reduce accidents at unmanned level crossings. The production of better crash worthy coaches has commenced. In future, the number of such coaches will be further increased to ensure safety of passengers.

RAILWAY SECURITY In view of the serious bomb blasts which occurred last week on 18th February in train number 4001 Delhi-Attari Link Express near Panipat and in July 2006 in Mumbai Suburban Services, Railways have taken several steps to strengthen and modernize the 80

security arrangements. In order to provide necessary equipments and other resources for Railways security works, adequate funds are being made available from Passenger Amenity and Machinery & Plant Plan heads. The allocations for these works will be enhanced substantially and these funds will not be a constraint for these works. Besides increasing the number of trained dogs in the existing dog squads, in many sensitive divisions of the country explosive detection devices, door frames and hand held metal detectors are being installed to provide better security for trains and passengers. In addition, equipments like CCTV and smart video cameras have been installed at sensitive stations. In consultation with security experts, an integrated extensive security and surveillance system will be developed for Mumbai Suburban Services which will be equipped with high quality security equipments. Railway Protection Force is escorting 1,450 trains everyday. 8,000 vacant posts in Railway Protection Special Force will be filled up shortly on an all India basis. Intensive training is being imparted to Railway Protection Force , in order to increase their professional expertise and efficiency Recently, Jagjivan Ram Railway Protection Force Academy, Lucknow has been given the status of a Centralized Training Institute.

They would appoint a committee and look into the recommendations provided by them to better the security arrangements in the trains and stations. 6. EXCEPTION Railways in the past railways have provided exceptional services. Service providers need to provide such services to keep their customers happy. Earlier, trains which provided meal did not have Jain food but now on request of passengers they provide Jain food to passengers. This is an example of exceptional service provided by Indian Railways. Another example of exceptional service provided by railways could be that if a lady or elderly passengers request railways to provide them with lower births if they dont have one, then they make arrangements to make them feel comfortable. 7. BILLING 81

In railways, when a passenger books a ticket, he does not get any bill for the ticket. He directly receives the ticket on which following details are mentioned: Train number Seat number Coach number PNR number Ticket number Age of the passenger Birth number Train name Passengers name Gender Fare Kilometers travelled Destination PAYMENT Payment refers to the mode of payment. This mode should be convenient and therefore railways have introduced many modes by which travelers can make payment for their tickets. The simplest mode of making payment is by cash. Travelers can make payment at the cash counter at the Railway station or while booking through travel agent. Travelers can also pay their agents by using their credit cards. The scheme of booking e-ticket through internet from home has become very popular. To further encourage e-ticket usage, there are plans to reduce the per eticket charge for Jousting for space in serpentine queues might well be a thing of the past with rail travel set to become a more relaxed affair. That elusive reserved train ticket can now be purchased from the local post office, petrol pumps and even ATMs. 82

Payment can also be made by using credit cards and for this there has been a tie up with ICICI Bank and Citibank and American Express. One problem is that many Indians dislike the concept of credit cards since they dont like buying goods on credit. Railway has realized this, and for customers who do not want to use these cards, an additional payment mode of direct debit from their accounts through online banking is now available. Now they provide direct debit through 17 banks, three payment gateways and one cash card payment option.

In another welcome measure, central railways will also start a pilot project for issuing tickets through multi-purpose smart cards from Mumbai, followed by Chennai and Kolkata. The smart cards can be both bought and recharged at various designated points and they will be readable on touch by hand-held terminals provided to TTEs.

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THE WAY AHEAD ..

The success of Indian Railways' recent initiatives has bred new confidence and enthusiasm to implement larger schemes and proposals on a war footing. The current situation is one of stock-taking and planning for the future. Some of the key areas that require attention have been identified as a wish list for the Railways. They include: Planning and implementation of freight and high-speed corridors in South India to complement the planned northern rail freight corridors. This would then be a perfect foil to the highway Golden Quadrilateral for inter-modal integration. Providing investment (fiscal/ commercial) incentives to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in rail infrastructure. This would also result in access to advanced technology in this area from foreign participants. Private sector investment to create captive and common rail links to main rail corridors to reduce the financial and operational burden on the Railways. Development of infrastructure for inter-modal connectivity which includes creation of warehouses, ICDs, logistics parks, and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) among others. Developing PPP frameworks for manufacture of state-of-the-art rolling stock, locomotives, passenger coaches, track equipment, and signaling infrastructure with technology transfer arrangements to enable future indigenous development.

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 Progressive separation of railway infrastructure and Operation & Maintenance (O&M) that would spur private sector initiatives and participation. Progressive rationalization of freight tariffs to further simplify freight tariff slabs as well as reduce cross-subsidy for the passenger operations. Creation of an independent and transparent Rail Tariff Authority which is critical to ensuring increased private sector participation. Opening up operation of passenger rail services to private operators on a revenue sharing framework which could dramatically improve customer service by providing for a competitive environment. Co-operation and co-ordination with state PWD/NHAI which will become increasingly important during construction of corridors and over bridges.

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BEST Bus
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INTRODUCTION
"The BEST way to experience Mumbai is on a BEST bus!" Any hard core Mumbaikar vouches for this statement. BEST (Marathi: / ) or the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport is Mumbai's public transport service and electricity provider. The government-owned organisation, which was set up in 1873, operates as one of India's largest fleets of buses. Originally setup as a tramway company, it branched out into supplying electricity to the city in 1905, and later into operating buses in 1926. The BEST is run by the city's municipality as an autonomous body. It supplies electricity to the commercial capital covering 69 sq kms and it runs 3,400 buses on 340 routes, covering more than six lakh kms every day. It has a workforce strength of 38,000, which includes 22,000 bus drivers and conductors. Single decker buses make up the bulk of the fleet, followed by the double-decker buses and air-conditioned buses, which ply on select routes. For about 50 lakh Mumbaikars or more, the BEST bus is the daily means of travel. Over these years, whether it is in the field of transportation or electricity, BEST has built an impeccable reputation. Mumbai is best known to have uninterrupted supply of electricity. BEST is always one step ahead in public welfare. In the buses, seats have been reserved for the physically challenged, senior citizens and women. The rule of 'entry from rear door and exit from front door' is strictly implemented (except for senior citizens and expectant mothers) to ensure smooth operation. BEST has won the 'Pravasi Suraksha' award for road safety by the Government of India for the year 2003-04 and the Prince Michael International Road Safety award (2003-2004) given by the Prince Michael Institute of Great Britain for contribution to road safety.

HISTORY
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The birth of the BEST dates back to 1873, with the setting up of the Bombay Tramway Company Limited, which was given the license to operate trams in the city. The Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) was given the right to purchase the company after twentyfive years, or after seven years thereafter. In 1874, the Bombay Tramways Act was enacted after the contract was formally signed between the Municipality and the Company to start such a transport system. It was in 1926 that it graduated into a motorbus service with a modest fleet of 24 vehicles. Be it streetlights or electricity for commercial /household use, BEST was the first to introduce these facilities in India, as early as 1903. Soon, the BEST Company won repute as a model organization. It served Mumbai city well, by efficiently supplying two very basic needs. The BEST Company was then dissolved on August 6, 1947. After World War II, and India's independence, the management of the company was taken over by the BMC in 7 August 1947, and the company was renamed The BEST Undertaking. As the company grew post-independence, it increased its fleet from 242 to 582 buses over the next decade. In 1949, BEST took over the Bandra Bus Company, which used to ply buses in the suburbs. In 1964, due to high operational costs and poor public support, its long-running tram services were terminated. The company achieved the status of being the first company in the country to issue computerised billing in 1974. In 1994, the company introduced electronic meters, in a move to replace the less accurate electric meters and made room for BEST undertaking. The BESTs ownership was then transferred to the Municipal Corporation. The BEST Undertaking was the first 'public' enterprise in the country to run it successfully became a national duty!

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PEST ANALYSIS
POLITICAL FACTORS
The political situation of any country strongly influences any industry that wishes to flourish in the framework of the country. The BEST is run by the city's municipality as an autonomous body yet it is affected strongly by the action and decisions taken by the men with authority. The government is instrumental in the passing of the various laws and acts, which govern the working of the industry and has a very strong bearing on the success of the industry. The buses used by the State Transport Undertaking account for almost 90% of the bus sales. The budget of how many buses are to be ordered is dependent on each state government. If the government is hard pressed for funds the number of replacement units for buses ordered will be low. This will have a great influence in the demand and the profitability of companies in the manufacture of buses.

Permits: There are basically three types of permits that are required to be taken by any
transporter. These are: i. National permit: This is the permit issued by the transporter, permitting him to move in minimum 5 states. If more states are to be covered than respectively the permit fees has to be paid. Hence the government takes a consolidated tax payment at the time of issue of permits and thereafter the transporter does not require paying tax at each and every permitted state. It is renewed every six months. ii. State permit: This is a permit allowing the transporter to move freely within a particular state. The tax payments and the privileges enjoyed are same as National

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Permit but the only distinguishing factor is that it can move only within one particular state. It is renewed every six months.

iii.

Temporary permit: This is similar to National Permit but instead of the period of 6 months it is allowed only for 15 days for all the states but the transporter here has to pay individual taxes for each state unlike Consolidated in National Permit.

Depreciation policy: The government decides the amount of depreciation that can be
charged on the use of Heavy Motor Vehicles. Since corporate and institutional customers normally purchase the Heavy Motor Vehicles, they rely heavily on the depreciation that can be provided for tax shelters since it helps show a lower net profit and higher notional expenses. The increase in depreciation rates therefore can help push the sales since it will spur more Heavy Motor Vehicle buying on account of the tax shelters received. In the past, the GOI changed the depreciation norms to control the tax collection from corporation. For example: the decrease in depreciation rates from 33% in 1989-90 to 20% in 1990-91 led to drop in Heavy Motor Vehicles.

Infrastructure development: All the vehicles according to their weight have to pay a
fixed amount of tax known as toll tax. The government uses this money for the development of roads, maintenance etc.

The bus service in Mumbai, run by the Bombay Electric Supply and Transportation Undertaking (BEST), is arguably one of the most extensive and well-managed public road transport systems in the country. BEST buses carry approximately 4.2 million passengers a day. This makes BEST Buses and BEST Bus stops became easy targets for political nuisance and bombings.

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ECONOMIC FACTORS
Though the BEST is a government-owned company, it does not receive any financial assistance from the BMC, or the state government. The daily earnings of Brihanmumbai electricity supply and transportation from transport system is Rs. 2 crore ($458,450). It collects Rs. 70 lakh ($160,450) worth of five rupee coins daily, Rs. 48 lakh ($110,000) worth of ten and twenty rupee notes, and Rs. 60 lakh ($137,535) worth of fifty rupee notes, through its fare collection system. This has led a unique situation wherein it has accumulated a surplus of short change. The company floated tender inquiries to 54 banks to exchange the loose change, which totalled 4.67 crore ($1.07m). However, none of the banks sent in a single bid, some citing that their vaults are full, and others saying it would be unprofitable for low denominations, given security considerations.

Modes Of Revenues:
i. Transport revenues: For the financial year 200506, BEST earned

Rs. 1,540.13 crore ($352.92m) with a profit of 140.8 crore ($32.3m) from the electricity department alone. However, its transport department earned 948.68 crore ($217.39m), with a loss of 140.30 crore ($32.26m). This gives it an estimated net loss of Rs. 50 lakhs ($114,575). Newer management techniques, such as retrenching of excess staff (494 till date), and the closure of less patronised routes, have reduced the losses in recent years, from a high of Rs. 175 crore ($40.1m) in 2001.

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Transport revenues of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport a) Blue: Earnings b) Red: Expenditure c) Green: Net profit/loss

ii. Advertisements: BEST earns revenues by way of advertisements on its buses and bus-stops, and through rent from offices on owned properties. They have now started advertising on closed-circuit televisions, installed in public buses operated by Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST). Major advertisers, including Hindustan Unilever, Paras Pharma, Pidilite Industries, Esselworld, Playwin Lotteries and Tata Sky have started relaying commercials in the BEST buses. The advertisers need to shell out just Rs 9,300 for one 10-second advertising slot in all the 3,100 buses that is fitted with television screens. The cost per commercial per bus becomes a paltry Rs 3 (which is lower than the minimum fee of Rs 4 on BEST). 93

What started as a security initiative with close-circuit cameras to record passengers and save the images in a blackbox below the drivers seat has now become a revenue initiative. The company plans to air around 12 minutes of advertising every hour, between 7 am and 10 pm daily. Fevicol, for instance, is currently airing 15 spots a day on 100 buses at a price of just Rs 90 per bus. The adwallahs seem to have figured out another way to catch the attention of the ordinary consumer. Enticements for products will now scream out from best bus tickets. The ads printed on the backs of the 6x3 cm bus tickets, printed on low cost paper, will rope in Rs 80 lakhs over three years. This, the best administration hopes, will help cut the burgeoning Rs 132-crore deficit. The scheme is as yet confined to so-called fast denomination tickets of Rs 3,4,5 and 6, this means that promotional messages pops out of approximately 7 crore of the 13 crore tickets printed every month. so far the company has received a green signal from mtnl, icici and hdfc banks, lifestyle stores like akbarallys, bombay bazaar and some fast moving consumer goods companies like everest masala, the advertisements will be printed in seven coloursblack, blue, green, orange, magenta, red and brown.

iii.

Public Call Offices: At present they are in 75 BEST single-decker buses. The plan is for Hutch PCOs to be in over 1,774 single-decker buses. And Tata Indicom will install another 1,626 CDMA phones. The Hutch PCO is a GSM mobile phone. One can make local, STD and ISD calls using one-rupee coins. Local calls will be charged at Rs. 1 per 60 seconds, STD calls at Rs. 1 per 20 seconds and ISD calls at Re 1 per 6 seconds. The cellular operator is expected to pay 42.5% of their income to BEST. Assuming Rs. 100 worth of calls are made per bus per day, or Rs. 3,100 per month, BEST will earn 42.5%, i.e. Rs. 1,318 per bus per month, plus a fixed rental of Rs. 150 per month. That comes to an income of Rs. 1,468 per bus per month. Multiplied by 3,400 singledecker buses, BEST stands to net Rs. 50 lakh per month from the project. 94

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 doesnt seem that lucrative a proposition. However, Mr Khobragade, BEST undertaking manager 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. iv. Other modes: 60 acres of space in BEST bus depots may be sold to raise some Rs 1,200 crore for the cash-strapped undertaking. These in all probability will be converted into malls. Other things also affecting the economic proposition of BEST are: a) Trade cycles: Trade cycles such as recession or prosperity have a direct

impact on road transport services. When there is recession or slowdown in the economy and other industries such as travel and tourism, exports-imports, the level of economic activities are low as a result there is low demand for transportation services such as passenger transport. This has a direct impact on the operations and profitability of this industry. It is during this time that the transporters need to effectively manage demand and supply and market their services to retain their customers. b) Fake currencies: The Bombay Electric Supply and Transport also faced a

crisis after receiving fake currencies. This happened over a span of three and a half years. The loss faced by the BEST stands at Rs 78,320, which was collected in the form of fake currency, sources in the BEST say. Abdul Sattar Tamboli, spokesperson, BEST, says: "Since the year 2000, we have received fake notes worth Rs 78,320 in denominations of Rs 500, Rs 100 and Rs 50. During the year 2000, the BEST received fake currency worth Rs 20,320. In 2001, the amount stood at Rs 26,000, while in the year 2002, the BEST recorded losses of Rs 12,000. In 2003, BEST has received fake notes worth Rs 20,000. Tamboli says: "We have alerted all our bus conductors and instructed them not to take the notes if they suspect the authenticity." Sometimes, bus conductors in crowded busses are unable to 95

check the notes properly. Taking advantage of the situation, the culprits hand over fake notes. Sources say that passengers are unaware that the notes that they are exchanging are bogus. In good faith, they purchase tickets, and after the note is given to the BEST collection department, it is revealed that its fake. The BEST is also taking precautions to avoid such problems. Elaborating on loses, they recovered these losses through bad debt account. As far as the fake currency is concerned, BEST has set them ablaze in their security as the officials do not want them to go back in circulation. c) Fuel prices: The hike in fuel prices puts an additional burden of Rs 18

crore on the BEST, yet prices of tickets cannot be raised. On an average, the BEST spends Rs 200 crore every year on fuel and with losses of Rs 200-250 crore since the last few years, the extra fuel cost will be an additional burden. "The situation is alarming since the hike in fuel costs was not factored into budget estimates for the current financial year," said Kshatriya. The undertaking is trying to get higher passenger volumes to make up for the loss. BEST cannot increase ticket rates as that would push them out of competition. The undertaking will have to instead raise volumes and explore advertisement revenues to the fullest. The BEST is in a fix because its diesel-run buses are competing with taxis and autorickshaws using compressed natural gas (CNG). With minimum fares already at Rs 4, even a nominal hike of a rupee will make buses costlier than shared taxis and autos, said Kshatriya. "Since 70% of our revenue comes from short-distance passengers, increasing the minimum fare is next to impossible," he said. So the BEST is hoping to increase passenger volumes, which are currently at 45 lakh daily, through innovative concepts like single-day-multiple-route ticket and monthly season passes like those for suburban trains.

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BEST will create tailor-made solutions for individuals and groups travelling in BEST buses to make the deal attractive. BEST officials said that they will also expedite the process of shifting more buses to CNG to cut fuel costs. As of now, BEST has 300 CNG buses in its fleet. The new buses introduced by BEST run on CNG, making them economical to operate. BEST has also introduced a 35 seater bus which helps commuters reach inaccessible areas thereby generating revenue. The buses could also be run on routes where it was not economical to operate single decker buses thereby allowing them to cut costs. Soon it has to convert another 300 to CNG as per a Bombay high court order. They will ramp up CNG conversion from now. But that will also imply additional investment on account of CNG dispensing stations at depots. But in the longer run, CNG will be a better alternative despite the capital expenditure at the outset. The BEST, being a public utility company, cannot increase electricity and bus fares to maximize its profits. An increase, when affected, is usually carried out to curb losses due to inflation. BMC approval is needed before such an increase goes into effect.

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SOCIOLOGICAL FACTORS
BEST believes that it has a social obligation towards the city where it has grown. As such it is felt essential to provide concession to certain sections of society. A few schemes are listed below. 1. Reservation of Seats: The BEST has reserved 3 seats for handicapped person, 2 seats for Senior Citizens and 6 seats for lady passengers in the Single Decker buses. In the Double Decker buses it has reserved 3 seats each for lady passengers and handicapped persons and 2 seats for Senior Citizens. 2. Front Door Entry: The BEST have permitted physically and mentally handicapped persons, senior citizens, and expectant mothers to board the bus from the front door except at starting point 3. Free Travel Facility: Presently, the BEST provides free travel facility to the freedom fighters. One person accompanying the freedom fighter is also permitted to travel free. Municipal Councilors and Non-Councilor Members of the BEST Committee are also permitted to travel free on BEST buses. Adhoc Members of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, accompanied by his wife and Female Members accompanied by any one viz. husband, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister are allowed to travel free on BEST buses. Police personnel are allowed to travel free on BEST buses against an ad-hoc payment of compensation towards free travel facility by the Government of Maharashtra. This facility of free travel however is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned services. 4. Concession in Fares: Children below 12 years of age are charged concessional fare. Student studying upto Higher Secondary and upto the age of 22 years are charged concessional fare. Persons who are 60 % and above, permanently Orthopaedically handicapped are charged concessional fare. Blind persons are charged a flat fare of Re.1/- per journey. However, concessional fare facility is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned Services.

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5. Provisions made for students: The BEST Undertaking has made special arrangements for students taking their HSC and SSC exams. The exams commence from February 21 and March 5 respectively. The student concession passes will be considered valid from the residence to the exam centre for the period of the exam. The BEST has instructed its drivers to stop buses at all stops, especially those near the exam centers. The depots have also been asked to ply extra buses if the need arises. 6. Ladies Special & Ladies First Services: In Order to reduce the hardships faced by the Ladies commuters, while boarding the bus during the peak hours, the BEST has introduced Ladies Special Trips on heavily patronised routes. Similarly Ladies First At Starting Points trips are also provided to facilitate lady commuters. 7. Excursion Action Plans: The city of Mumbai has various Excursion points where heavy passenger traffic is generated from the City and Suburbs during Weekends and Holidays. To cater with the heavy demand of the passengers, the BEST operates Excursion Action Plans on various routes on Sundays/Holidays. Some of the Action Plans are Juhu Chowpatty Action Plan, National Park Action Plan etc. 8. Festival Action Plans: Mumbai being a cosmopolitan city its citizens celebrate their festivals with gaiety and pomp. The BEST operates special buses during the festivals like Ganapati Festival, Diwali Festival, Christmas and New Year Eve. Of the total fare, 15 paisa goes for the education of poor people. This way BEST is fulfilling its social obligation towards the society.

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TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
IT has always been an integral part of government owned organisations. All have been using IT in some way or the other for quite some time now, starting from managing daily accounts to having ERP systems in place to run such huge operations. For administrative purposes, BEST started an Electronic Data Processing (EDP) department way back in 1968. At that time they used to hire computer hours to work on IBM 1401 machines and since then they have housed mainframes, minicomputer systems running UNIX as well as servers running Novell NetWare and Windows 2000. Presently, BEST is using IT systems in more than one ways. BEST is using IT systems for everything from material inventory to billing electricity consumption. They have applications such as payroll, ticket accounting, daily vehicular returns and financial accounting system. They are using applications in the traffic department for planning bus routes and doing load factor calculations. An Online ticket accounting system (OLTAS) is being used for managing the daily collection of tickets and revenue generated therewith. These implementations are lightening the burden of government employees and helping them administer processes in a more accurate and faster way which in turn increases overall productivity of the entire organisation. a. Compressed natural gas bus: The demand for petroleum products in India has been increasing at a rate higher than the increase in domestic availability. At the same time there is continuous pressure on emission control through periodically tightened regulations particularly for metropolitan cities. In the wake of this situation BEST realised the urgent need to promote use of alternative fuel as substitute. Among the options Compressed Natural Gas received a great deal of attention and has been already applied successfully to some of the BEST buses (first time in India). The BEST is planning to increase the strength of CNG buses in its fleet. 100

The reasons for using CNG in its buses are: CNG can be used in the existing SI/CI engines with minor modifications. CNG is a clear burning fuel, with no black smoke and very low particulate emissions. Thus CNG engine is environmental friendly. CNG being lighter than air, diffuses upwards. CNG is very safe fuel due to its very narrow flammability limits. Low noise level of the engine. This will add to passenger comfort. b. Web Site: BEST uses its Web site primarily for delivering information to the public. This site gives information about bus routes and buses between locations. Getting information on all the routes of such a complicated network is exactly what BEST commuters want. BEST has about 6,000 buses which run from one end of Mumbai to the other on multiple routes. c. Smart Cards: As we opt for cashless transactions, starting from shopping malls to hospital bills to e-bookings; every transaction is being carried out with plastic cards with some technology or the other embedded in the same. No one likes to be burdened with responsibility of carrying money and especially the pain of carrying change for traveling by public transport. Looking at that and other benefits attached to card based transactions, BEST has launched smart card services for its commuters. This card has a chip embedded on it carrying all relevant information. These cards come as the counterpart of rail passes offered by the suburban railways. The chip inside covers details such as the route permitted and the validity of the card. These smart cards are checked with the help of a handheld device by the bus attendant (conductor). If the card is valid, the conductor gets a green signal and card is authenticated. BEST has about 6,000 handhelds for conductors. This service has been introduced by BEST not for low pricing but for unlimited travel on the specified route in any bus with any number of changes which makes it a very useful tool for commuters.

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To help commuters in the best possible way, BEST and the Indian railways are joining hands. A collaborative project is underway to offer a common smart card for both bus and train journeys for commuters in Mumbai. This RFID enabled smart card will work as a prepaid card which will allow citizens to travel in any mode without worrying about cash in their pockets. In order to reduce the rush during peak hours and to improve service this collaborative work is taking place. However, BEST needs an additional technology to measure the distance covered. All the buses therefore will use GPS devices to track the current position of the bus which will record the IN and OUT stations and money will be deducted from the card accordingly. Because of the GPS enabled RFID smart card facility, commuters will be able to travel hassle free and in future they will also get timely information about the movement of buses so that they can schedule their journey accordingly. IT in such initiatives is focused more on commuter satisfaction and comfort. The money matters of refills for these cards will be managed by a bank and this facility is available now. d. Global Positioning System: Imagine this: You are standing at a bus stop and an electronic indicator tells the exact number of minutes in which the bus will screech to a halt before you. The indicator also flashes information about the traffic situation, thereby letting you know the travel time between two destinations. Sounds improbable? However, with the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply Transport (BEST) undertaking considering deployment of Global Positioning System (GPS) for its bus service, the average Mumbaikars daily commute might just hitch a ride on the hitech highway. GPS technology opens vast vistas for transport. GPS is based on reception of signals from satellites, with the aim of fixing the exact location of an object, which could even be a bus. Therefore, GPS will enable BEST officers sitting in the control room to monitor the movement of each bus in the city.

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If the BEST manages to pull off this hi-tech coup, it will position itself as the countrys first public transport body to deploy the GPS system. The technology will enable them to be in touch with their drivers in real time. The BEST officials can ask them to drive slowly if they are speeding or instruct them to avoid certain routes where there is a traffic jam or flooding.

BEST Smart card pass system This allows commuters to travel on a specified route in any bus with any number of changes for a specific number of days. RFID & GPS based Smart Card Currently under development, this project will allow passengers to travel with a prepaid card on any bus. GPS devices will enable the calculation of the fare to be deducted on the basis of distance covered. This will serve as a common card for both buses and railways.

e. Closed Circuit Cameras: Also after the blasts, a precautionary measure has been taken by BEST to ensure safety checks for passengers and therefore, BEST bus service has decided to install close circuit cameras in its entire fleet of over 3,000 103

buses. The CCTV (closed circuit camera TV) installed at various positions in BEST buses keeps an eye on all activities of passengers. To start with, 200 buses were fitted with CCTV's and the recorded videos will be stored for at least three months by the Mumbai Municipal authorities. By this, BEST is sending out a message that every individual is being watched and every action is being monitored by these closed circuit cameras. f. LCD display Screens: BEST gave final touches to a project by installing an in-house entertainment systems in its 3,350-strong fleet of buses. The scheme was part of a broader plan to install surveillance systems in the buses. Many buses are equipped with LCD display screens. Commuters have the choice of viewing anything, right from news, music videos, and advertisements to even cricket matches. BEST has allowed EMNET to put up the LCD screens. While this is a welcome relief for the four million daily commuters of BEST, it also means extra bucks for the loss-stricken transport division. Certain revenues will be earned by BEST from the advertisements that will be displayed on the screen. A part of this revenue will go to EMNET. g. Route network information through mobile phones: The users of Reliance and TATA mobile services can now get the information of our entire route network on their mobile phones. The Undertaking has teamed-up with these two mobile service providers for helping its esteemed commuters, to reach to their desired locations.

7 Ps of Marketing Mix
PRODUCT 104

Core Services: The passengers are the consumers on the serving list of the BEST i.e transporting them within the territory of Mumbai. The customers need of reaching a particular destination has also to be satisfied without customers being left uncomfortable and the main motive of transportation being accomplished. Peripheral Services: Peripheral services are those which are either indispensable for the execution of the core service or available only to improve the overall quality. The peripheral service offer represents both the expected or tangible product and augmented product. b) Expected or Tangible Product BEST provides passenger with a number of features which helps them make the journey of the commuters less tiresome. These initiatives include the exhibition of the number of busses which travels that route. The features of expected product are:

1)

Timeliness: people travelling by bus expect it to arrive at a particular depot on

time and also reach the required destination on time. Though there is no guarantee given by BEST busses on this due to the traffic on Mumbai roads. 2) Cleanliness: The basic environment expected by a commuter is hygienic and

pest free. The buses after entering the bus depot are cleaned through machines which maintain the external appearance of the bus. The buses are washed twice from inside so as to keep it clean

3)

Safety of passengers: Safety being a main concern, and especially after the

entire bombing taking place in the BEST busses. Buses are now being equipped with CCTvs, messages are displayed on the screen, and these CCTvs also help in identifying any suspicious product kept under seats.

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4) Proper ticket dispensation and checking: to ensure this, various facilities like smart card, seasonal passes and automated machines have been introduced. This feature makes it convenient for the passengers as they do not have to carry money to buy a ticket. 5) Proper planning of structure of bus for easy entry and exit: BEST busses are very organized unlike the railways which have one exit and entry gate; BEST busses have 2 gates the back gate is for entry and the front gate for entry. However the BEST officials are a little flexible with this feature when it comes to senior and handicap citizens. Additional Services: The common citizen of Mumbai is obviously not aware of many surprising features of the BEST's Bus Service. Just to state a few examples: 1. Bus Route No. 166 - plies on roads interconnecting maximum Hospitals. 2. Bus Route No. 161 - This route covers on the way maximum Oil Reservoirs and unpopulated areas in Eastern wings of the city. 3. Bus Route No. 9 - A network of large number of school and colleges is interwoven by this route. 4. Bus Route No. 320, 22ltd., 25ltd. - These routes have an outstanding feature of connecting two largest water reservoirs of the city. 5. Bus Route No. 1,66,202 - Round the clock operating bus routes. 6. BEST busses also now provide with PCOs in the busses with nominal rates for the passengers to make the calls, they also have a facility for the hutch customers to deposit their bills in the bus itself.

The Augmented Product: 1. Softer seats and air condition bus 2. Concessions for certain sector of society like freedom fighters, military men. 3. Permanent Reserved seat for ladies, old people and handicapped people 106

4. Automatic ticket fare collection 5. Smart cards 6. Hutch PCOs 7. Hutch bill deposit boxes The potential product: 1. Providing separate line to BEST bus on maximum number of route 2. Less waiting plan 3. Disaster management 4. 24 hour service on maximum route 5. Implementation of GPS on all the busses 6. RFID tags on all the BEST busses 7. CCTvs to be installed in all the busses to ensure passenger safety Product width Articulated single deck bus (vestibule bus): BEST has introduced these buses to have economical bus operation and different modes of transport to carry more passengers particularly in peak hours. More buses would be introduced in a phased manner. A/C luxury bus: In an honest effort to attract the private vehicle owners to BEST buses and thereby reduce the congestion to some extent on Mumbai city roads, which affects the mobility of vehicles, BEST has introduced 51 Air-conditioned buses.

Low floor buses: BEST busses had received demands from various section of the society, who are working for the welfare of physically handicapped, regarding need for introducing Low Floor buses in the city of Mumbai. In 107

response to these demands and suggestion, BEST has launched the trial run of Low Floor buses. This trial is for 6 months, Initially these buses are operated in the suburban area of the mumbai City. Automatic transmission buses: The continuous movement of left foot for operation of clutch and left hand for gearshift lever also adds to the driver fatigue. The BEST has introduced buses with Allison Automatic Transmission on the roads of the Mumbai City Ladies Special & Ladies First Services: In Order to reduce the hardships faced by the Ladies commuters, while boarding the bus during the peak hours, the BEST has introduced Ladies Special Trips on heavily patronised routes. Similarly Ladies First At Starting Points trips are also provided to facilitate lady commuters. Operation of midi buses: The area in which it was not possible for the BEST to operate the conventional buses due to narrow roads, the BEST has introduced Midi Buses at such places. This is a 35 seater bus which goes in all the isolated areas also. It thus goes on with its ultimate aim of providing a BEST bus service to every nook and corner of the city. Excursion service: BEST in collaboration with the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, has introduced a special heritage tour with effect from 26th January 1997, in an Open Deck Bus in South Mumbai. Limited bus or express bus: busses which provide limited services to the commuters can be distinguished from the red colour of their bus route nos. These busses do not stop at all the bus stops and are therefore known as express or limited busses. they aer faster in reaching a destination as they do not halt at all the depots. Composition of Bus Fleet Type of Bus 1. 2. 3. Single Decker Diesel Buses Single Decker Midi Buses CNG Buses 108 Fleet as on 14.09.2005 2841 63 143

4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Air Conditioned Buses Vestibule Buses Low Floor Buses MUTP Buses Double Decker Buses Total Fleet

51 8 5 280 3391

PLACE MIX
In general, the role of place or distribution is crucial as it is the last link between the marketer and the end user. Therefore, the distribution or place strategies are an important part of the marketing mix. Place also refers to the point where there is a service encounter i.e. the servicer meets the customers. Taking BEST into consideration all the depots and the bus stops come under place because at every depot or stop the bus comes in direct contact with its customers The routes operated by the BEST can be broadly classified in the following categories. 109

1) Feeder Routes: These routes which feed the railway stations either from the residential complexes or Business Districts. 2) East-West Connectors: These are the routes, which run East/West, where railways have no role to play and connect the Western Suburb with the Eastern suburb. 3) Trunk Routes: These routes run South-North through the city and are almost parallel to the railways. The primary role of the BEST is to supplement Suburban Rails, which is the mass carrier. It is for this reason that BEST always gives priority for feeder routes and thereafter for East-West connectors where the railways have absolutely no direct role to play. The third priority is the long distance trunk route, which is an alternative to Suburban Railways, apart from being inter-corridor link between Suburbs and City. At this stage it is necessary to state that when every commuter desires a direct connection, he should realise that it is not always possible to inter connect every point with a direct route. One change is absolutely inevitable in any city transport network. Inspite of this the BEST tries to provide a direct connection wherever absolutely required but specific access to some areas is available with one changeover. Operation beyond Municipal Limits: The BEST operates inter-city services to three different areas beyond the Municipal limits of Mumbai city, i.e. into the limits of the bordering corporations. The three areas are as follows: 1)Navi Mumbai: Due to the closure of the Bombay Metropolitan Transport Corporation, the BEST management was requested to extend some of its services from Mumbai to Navi Mumbai, in order to relieve the hardships faced by the commuters of Navi Mumbai.

2) Mira-Bhayander: Citing the reference of the BEST operation in Navi Mumbai area, the Chairman, Mira-Bhayander Nagar Palika and the residents of that area requested the BEST to extend the service in their jurisdiction. 110

3) Thane: The Mayor, Thane Municipal Corporation had requested the BEST, on behalf of the residents of the Thane area, to extend a few services of BEST into the jurisdiction of Thane Municipal Corporation. Transport is the lifeline of any city, and BEST being the monopoly stage carriage Operator of this great Metro, it becomes the prime duty of BEST to ensure the development of the satellite townships by providing a proper transport network. No city or township can develop, if the Transportation, and Communication network is not proper and it is here that the onus of developing a transport network falls on the BEST.

PRICE MIX
The fair prices for passenger transport is directly regulated by government in case of public transport like BEST and indirectly incase of private such as cargo or private bus contractors. These days, bus stops situated outside several suburban railway stations are a ripe hunting ground for autorickshaw drivers. As commuters queue up for BEST buses, the autos scoop down, luring away passengers with an ingenious schemeshare-arickshaw. Priced at par with BEST's minimum fare of Rs 3, this share-a-rickshaw scheme, wherein auto drivers pile in three or four commuters wanting to travel a particular route, is seriously affecting BEST's operations. This scheme is one of the major reasons the number of commuters using BEST buses is going down. 111

Bus fare structure w.e.f : 25/01/2005

KMS ORDINARY LIMITED AIR CONDITIONED ADULT FARE (RS) 13 17 19 25 29 33 37 41 45 Rs.5 for every addl. 5 Kms or part thereof

ADULT FARE CONCESSIONAL ADULT FARE CONCESSIONAL (RS) 4 4.5 5 7 9 11 13 14 15 Rs.2 for every addl. 5 thereof FARE (RS) 1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 7 (Maximum) (RS) 4.5 5 6 8 10 12 15 16 18 Rs.2 for every addl. 5 Kms or part thereof FARE (RS) 1 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Maximum)

3 5 7 10 15 20 25 30 35 Above 35

Kms Kms or part

Even in cases where BEST fares are much cheaper, passengers prefer to hop into a cab instead of waiting for the next bus. The cabbies even run services exclusively for ladies. With commuters giving in to the autorickshaws' and taxis' quick-travel lure, BEST buses ferrying commuters to and fro from railway stations run practically empty. BEST busses also have concessional fares for various age, income and social groups Free Travel Facility: Presently, the BEST provides free travel facility to the freedom fighters. One person accompanying the freedom fighter is also permitted to travel free. Municipal Councilors and Non-Councilor Members of the BEST Committee are also permitted to travel free on BEST buses. Police personnel are allowed to travel free on BEST buses. This facility of free travel however is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned services. Concessional Fare: Children below 12 years of age are charged concessional fare. Student studying upto Higher Secondary and upto the age of 22 years are charged concessional fare. Persons who are 60 years and above or permanently 112

orthopaedically handicapped are charged concessional fare. Blind persons are charged a flat fare of Re.1/- per journey. this concessional fare facility is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned Services.

Luggage fare for ordinary and limited services:Luggage fare will be equivalent to the
corresponding Adult fares subject to the minimum luggage fare of Rs.4.00 and maximum luggage of Rs.15.00. Fares are charged not on the basis of distance from one stop to another stop but from one stage stop to another stage stop.

PROMOTION
BEST has started promoting its service as environment friendly. In order to decrease pollution in Mumbai, government insists that people use public transport system. So BEST is now focusing on this issue to encourage more and more people to travel by its bus. Also the BEST is planning to increase the strength of CNG buses in its fleet. CNG is a clear burning fuel, with no black smoke and very low particulate emissions. Thus CNG engine is environmental friendly. Low noise level of the engine will also add to passenger comfort. Being a necessary basic infrastructure facility, BEST has not adopted any marketing tools. But with the addition of new features like the smart card, hutch drop boxes, hutch PCOs, LCD screens. The customers are spreading this information, which in turn generates goodwill for BEST and thus help in its promotion.

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PEOPLE
They are the visible face of the service provider. They are the only ones who are seen and heard by the service recipient. In the case of BEST the drivers conductors and ticket checkers are the only link between the service provider and the customers. The company is headed by a General Manager, currently Uttam Khobragade. The traffic department is overseen by an 'Assistant General Manager (Traffic Operations)', and assisted by the 'Chief Traffic Manager (Sr.)'. The 'Chief Traffic Manager' oversees the five BEST zones, each headed by a 'Traffic Manager'. Each zone consists of 5 to 6 depots, whose operations are overseen by an 'Assistant General Manager (Traffic Operation)'. A 'Traffic Superintendent' or 'Assistant Traffic Superintendent' heads each depot.

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BEST enjoys a high degree of autonomy under the BMC; the latter approves its yearly budget and permits increases in bus fares when required. A body of 17 Municipal Corporators from the ruling party in the BMC forms the BEST Committee. The committee, headed by a Chairman, keeps a tab on the undertaking's daily operations. BEST bus comprises of a conductor, Driver and inspector. All the employees know their duties well so that there is no clash between them. The duties of each of them is mentioned below: A bus conductor: A bus conductor works in the passenger section of a bus or tram single or double-decker - collecting fares, issuing tickets and answering queries about routes, fares and timetables. He is seen in Khakhi colour uniform with a black bag

Helps passengers on and off buses and ensures that everyone remains seated safely Where necessary, helps secure luggage, fold baby buggies and deal with wheelchairs Goes from one passenger to another, asking the destination, calculating the fare, issuing tickets from a machine, collecting the money and giving change Checks season tickets and concessionary passes, ensuring they are valid Assesses age and, in case of doubt, asks for proof 115

On request, warns passengers when their stop comes up Checks that passengers do not stay on past the stop they have paid for Keeps track of which passengers have already paid Answers queries about routes, timetables and fares Challenges fare-dodgers, vandals or troublesome passengers and may evict them from the vehicle or summon help Deals with lost property and suspicious packages Copes with emergencies - deals with passengers falling ill or fighting, moves passengers on to a replacement bus in case of breakdown or accidents Counts the money and checks that it matches with tickets sold; may have to personally make up any shortfall May write a report about problems.

A bus ticket checker: A bus ticket checker is usually a promoted post within the company, involving planning staffing rotas, adjusting timetables, dealing with complaints and perhaps checking tickets.

Plans and adjusts routes and timetables Plans the rotas of drivers and conductors and arranges cover for absentees Surveys routes by travelling on them and timing them Might board buses to check that passengers have valid tickets and deal with those who do not Carries out general administrative duties.

Inspectors may also be known as route managers or team leaders.

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Hours and environment of BEST employees

Most bus conductors work shifts covering days, evenings and weekends and, in many cases, nights. Early starts and late finishes are common. Basic hours can vary from 39 to 48 per week, on a five or six day week. Conductors are mostly on their feet, wearing a heavy money satchel and a ticket machine. They walk about on the moving vehicle, which may be tightly packed. They wear a uniform, which the company provides. They need to deal with passengers, particularly at night, who might be drunk or aggressive. Hence there is a risk of verbal or physical abuse. An inspector spends some of the day in an office in the depot, but also travels on the buses and trams.

Skills and personal qualities:

Bus or tram conductors needs:

Clear speech and good communication A good memory - for faces, fares and routes An awareness of safety Numerical speed and accuracy Assertiveness for dealing with fare-dodgers and rowdy passengers A polite manner Physical fitness

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Training:
The Undertaking has a well-equipped Training Center for the traffic staff and designed program to re-educate them on such relevant topics as fuel conservation, safety measures, behaviour with the public etc. Training is also imparted in Refresher Courses to improve driving habits of the drivers under which officers check the habits of drivers constantly and as a result of which there is a great reduction in accidents. In the Refresher Courses, the stress is on an image revamp from a mere BEST employee to a concerned individual who cares for passenger comfort. The accident-prevention wing of the BEST has an accident prevention van with safety slogans and equipped with instructive audiovisual programs. Most operators provide on-the-job training for new recruits. The training generally lasts two to four weeks, and includes:

Operating ticket machines Route familiarisation Customer care Health and safety matters.

Incentive bonus scheme for the employees

To provide the passengers with a comfortable bus service, BEST needs a sufficient number of vehicles. The Undertaking has always been trying to achieve such sufficiency. The vehicles are just one factor in a bus transport system. There are 42,000 employees comprising of conductors, the drivers, the maintenance staff and the repairs staff in the workshops. If all these employees are not up to the mark, no increase in the number of buses is going to make it sufficient. So much depends on the proportion of vehicles stabled for repairs.

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Similarly, the efficiency of the service depends a good deal on the conductor and the driver not unnecessarily holding up the movement of their vehicle, the conductor issuing tickets promptly, and taking care to avoid altercation with the passengers. Efforts to secure such efficiency have to be made methodically. Some efforts made by the Undertaking in this direction in the beginning were as follows: The system of granting an efficiency bonus of Rs.25 every quarter was started in 1951. It applied to both the conductors and the drivers. To be eligible for the bonus, the employed had to attain a certain level in attendance and in efficiency. Absenteeism among employees is epidemic in the March June period. For lack of conductors and drivers, the usual number of buses cannot go out on the roads. A special bonus scheme had therefore been instituted for this period, to dissaude them from going on leave.

Bonus scheme for conductors : Under this scheme, a conductor was to be granted a bonus for extra work. The fare collected by him during the month was taken as his work. Some of the immediate benefits of the scheme were as follows: The number of complaints received from passengers dropped from 600 to 400 per month. The Undertaking could cope with the traffic without increasing the number of buses. Passengers had to wait for a shorter time in queues. The proportion of absentees among conductors came down.

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Incentive Bonus Scheme for other employees: Like the conductors, the three categories of staff namely Bus Drivers, Workers in the Traffic and Engineering Departments and the Maintenance Staff are important in a bus-transport system achieving maximum efficiency. But, in their case, the efficiency is not of an individual; it is the result of the co-operative effort of workers from each of the three categories. Such joint effort enables a bus to run smoothly and punctually. This scheme was designed to keep more buses running - that is, to reduce the number of sick buses. The continuous movement of left foot for operation of clutch and left hand for gearshift lever also adds to the driver fatigue. The BEST has introduced buses with Allison Automatic Transmission on the roads of the Mumbai City

PHYSICAL EVIDENCE
The physical evidence of a service comes in different forms and guises. These include, the physical aspects of the location of the service delivery such as the design, functionality, and the aesthetics of the place. The dress, uniform, appearance, and facial expressions of the frontline employees form a crucial part in the physical evidence.

1) Colour: The BEST buses are red in colour which helps the passenger to identify with these busses even from a distance. At the pinnacle of the BEST bus and on the side of it the details of the bus is mentioned like the bus no. and its route. This

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information is written in Hindi and in English for the convenience of the commuters. 2) Seats: The BEST busses have a capacity to seat 49 commuters. The seats are cushioned ones to provide complete comfort to the passengers. There are 21 seats which can accommodate 2 persons per seat and 1 seat in the front where only one person can sit and at the backside there is a long seat which can accommodate 5 persons. These seats are dark green in colour. 3) In case of AC buses, there are Luxury seats with soft transo fabric. The passage of these busses is also carpeted. These buses have cushioned handles and the seats are dark blue in colour with texture on it. 4) Curtains: this feature is available only in AC buses. The curtains are white in colour. The loops with which they are attached are also white in colour providing a cool ambience inside the bus. 5) Railing: BEST buses have iron railings on the windows for the safety of the passengers. On every window there are two railings and glass which can be open. 6) Floor: BEST buses have iron flooring which helps the bus to stay sturdy. However, luxury buses also have Carpeted flooring. 7) Steps: While climbing the BEST bus, commuters have to take 3 steps. In order to provide convenience to handicap people, Low Floor Line buses are introduced which have 2 steps in place of 3 and have wider doors. 8) Lights: BEST buses have totally 6 lights, 3 tube lights on both the sides at regular intervals to provide convenience to its commuters. 9) Fans: In BEST bus, there is no facility of fans however; in case of AC buses 2 seats share one fan. 121

10) Conductor: The conductor is dressed in khaki colour uniform and wears a batch with his name written on it and his identification no. He carries a black bag containing all the change and the tickets. He is supposed to keep currency notes in the front side pocket of his shirt. 11) Ticket Checker: Ticket checker or the inspector uniform is light blue in colour. He wears a black cap and can be found on any bus stop checking the ticket of the commuters when they get down on that stop. 12) Punching machine: Conductor carries a punch machine which is silver in colour. He punches the ticket according to the stop where the passenger wants to get down. 13) Tickets: The tickets are in different colours indicating the price of the ticket and the distance covered. These tickets are made of low quality paper and are 6 by 3 inches in size with denominations written in hindi. On the ticket number are printed indicating from 1 to 25 which indicates the stop at which person can to get down. Also there are charges for luggage. And on every ticket 15 paise charged as Adhikar is directed towards a fund which goes to children education.

14) LCD screens: There are two LCD screens installed behind the drivers seat. On these LCD screens, pre-recorded public service information can be displayed. This makes the BEST busses look hi-tech and also gives a touch of sophistication to these busses. 122

15) CCTVs: The CCTVs will be placed in three different corners of the bus, at the entrance, the exit and the middle of the bus. These cameras monitors passenger movement, and store the footage in a black box 16) Smart Card: They are pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits which can process information. The commuter has to present the card to the conductor, who puts the smart card in front of the device, which calculates the actual fare, and then automatically debit the amount from the card. However, if passengers fail to present the card at the time of exit the card will be debited for the full journey. Forty entries can be registered at the validating machine in one minute. The proximity between the card and the device is to be maintained for less than half a second. If the card is valid and has balance, the device will give an audible beep, a green light, and display entry valid sign and show the present balance on the card. The same process will have to be repeated at the end of the journey at the exit. The fare will be calculated automatically, deducted from the card and balance after deduction will be displayed to the user. 17) Bus stop: The bus stops are red in colour with space provided for people to stand in shade. These bus stops have a board indicating the numbers of various buses that will halt on that bus stop. Now days, advertisements can also be seen on the bus stops. 18) Bus Depots: The bus Depots comprises of huge area where bus are parked. This is the starting and ending points for all the busses. The washing and cleaning of buses are also done in these depots.

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Process
This is the procedure to obtain identity card for concession. Students upto 12th standard can avail of this concession. 1. An application form may be bought for Rs. 3 from any bus depot. 2. Pay a registration fee of Rs. 7 3. Submit the application form after endorsement by the School/ Junior College Office. The form can be submitted at the nearest depot from residence or at the depot under the jurisdiction of where the college lies. 4. 15 days after the submission of the application, an identity card will be issued

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MARKET SEGMENTATION
Separate marketing strategies focused on individual customer groups, each consisting of customers with similar characteristics and needs, are more likely to succeed. These customer groups are called market segments and the process of identifying and separating these groups for the purposes of developing marketing plans and strategies and of managing sales force activities are called market segmentation. BEST undertaking provides different facilities to cater to all the people travelling by its busses. Market for BEST busses can be broadly segmented in the following categories: Demographic Psychographic Geographic 125

Speed

Demographic: In Demographic Segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the

basis of variables such as age, family size, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education etc. Income: While classifying on the basis of income, there are mainly two types of

buses: Air Conditioned busses and Non-Air conditioned busses. The fares of Air conditioned busses are four times the fares of ordinary busses. These AC busses are targeted towards those who travel by private vehicles generally the higher income group. The carrying capacity for AC buses is 45 persons compared to 72 persons including standees in a single decker bus, 36 per cent less.

Gender: There are few busses which are specially designed for women. The

undertaking has been endeavouring to ease the journey of lady passengers, particularly working women by introducing Ladies First buses at various points where the ladies are given priority while boarding the bus at the starting point. These special busses for womens are being run during peak hours in order to make travel more comfortable. Moreover, in Non AC busses, there are few seats, around 3-4 seats which are reserved specially reserved for women passengers.

Following table gives details for ladies special busses: Ladies Special Buses Route 79 606 Starting Journey Area Gorai Depot R.G.Gadkari Chowk Tembi Pada Bhandup Station (W) Bhandup Station (W) Gorai Depot Destination Journey Area R.G.Gadkari Chwok P.Thakre Nagar Bus Stn. Bhandup Station (W) Tembi Pada Nardas Nagar Mith Chowky 126 Time 8:50 17:49 8:06 19:15 17:45 08:27

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Education: In Mumbai, very few schools and colleges have busses of their own

and even those who have they charge extra from students for lending this service. Since all students might not be able to afford private busses of their school they travel by BEST bus as it is an inexpensive mode of travelling. Also many schools and colleges do not even have private buses of their own. Students therefore mostly travel by BEST busses. There are concessions provided by BEST bus for students. If students follow the above mentioned procedure and get their identity card made, they will get concession of 50% which is also known as half ticket. For example, the minimum fare for travelling by BEST bus is Rs.4. However, if students show their Identity card they will have to pay Rs.2 instead of Rs.4.

Pcychographic Segmentation: The basis of segmentation in this type can be social class, lifestyle, or personal characteristics of the groups. Here comfort comes into picture as well off people would like to travel by Air Conditioned busses rather than Non-Air Conditioned ones. Comfort: While classifying busses on comfort bases, Air Conditioned busses are more comfortable to travel with as compared to non Air Conditioned ones. BEST introduced these busses in an honest effort to attract the private vehicle owners to BEST buses and thereby reduce the congestion to some extent on Mumbai city roads, which affects the mobility of vehicles. BEST has introduced 51 Airconditioned buses.

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Low Floor Buses: BEST also has Low Floor Buses which cater to the needs of physically handicapped people. These busses have wider entrance to help handicapped people enter the bus safely.

Geographic Segmentation: Unlike products that can be distributed far and wide using trade channels, customers have to be present in or around the point of delivery of most services. This makes geographical base quite vital. Distance: Unlike products that can be distributed for and wide using trade channels, customers have to be present in or around the point if delivery of most services. This makes the geographic base quite vital. For buses, the residents living in a radius of about 1.5 to 2 kilometers will ofrm the tarket market segmentation. There are few busses which cover long distances and some which cover short distance. For example, Bus number 347 provides quick short service. It starts from Goregaon Station (East) and travels till Gokul Dham. Another such bus is bus number 415 which moves to and fro between SEEPZ and Agarkar Chowk. Buses which operate on longer routes are bus number 33, 241 etc. Speed : There are few busses which are known as express bus. These busses take less time to reach their destination. They also stop at alternate bus stops and hence reduce the time taken to reach its destination. The travellers are however charged little more than the fare they pay in ordinary bus for the express service provided by this bus. To facilitate its easy recognition, the bus number of these busses is written in red colour as compared to general black colour of ordinary bus. Few examples of express buses are 210, 707 etc among others and that of ordinary bus are 79, 241, 33 etc.

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GUARANTEE WARRANTY
Best busses are government owned, not being private bodies they lack in external infrastructural facilities which makes it difficult for them to give guarantee about their services. At first these busses claimed that they would always reach the destination on time and therefore every bus has a specific and estimated time to reach a particular place. However after considering the traffic on Mumbai roads they do not give guarantee about being punctual. Warranty being a collateral agreement is provided by the BEST busses. If in case a bus breaks down mid way due to some technical faults. The commuters are transferred to another best bus from the same route without any additional charges. There is even 129

warranty of the commuters goods or any other asset if lost in the bus. The commuter can file a complaint and check at the loss property section for his goods.

LINE OF VISIBILITY
A central aspect of service blueprinting is to distinguish between what the customer experiences and perceive. The back stage and front stage activities of employees and support processes help the customers to build expectations. Back stage is where the customers cannot see the processes or activities and the front stage comprises of those activities which come in direct contact with the customers and between these two aspects lies the line of visibility. Front office Front office is mainly dominated by Conductors 130

 Drivers The conductors and drivers affect the quality of services provided by the company to the commuters. As they come in direct contact with the customers they are in turn representatives of the companies. Back office The marketing implications of the back stage changes depend on whether or not they affect or are noticed by customers. The current processes or the changes proposed the back office should be within the range of acceptability by the customers. The changes that are being proposed by the back office should be communicated to the commuters so that they can prepare themselves for the changes which will happen in future by explaining them the rationale, the benefits and what customers will need to do differently in future. Whenever changes in ticket fares are proposed by the back office staff, this always results in resistance on part of the customers as they have to shell more money for the same distance traveled. Conductors should be amiable and friendly while dealing with passengers as they represent the company. They should be willing to extend support to the passengers. For example, if any passenger does not know when the stop will come, he will expect the conductor to help him with the required information. Similarly, Drivers should be careful while driving as many lives are dependant on them. They should also be willing to help the commuters if required.

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4 Is of Service Industry
The 4 main characteristics of the service industry are: Intangibility Inseparability Inconsistency Inventory Intangibility

Inseparability

4 Is
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Inconsistency

Inventory 4 Is BEST Intangibility Low Inseparability High Inconsistency High Inventory High

Intangibility: The intangibility factor is comparatively low in this service industry of transportation. The buses are transporting the consumers from one place to another. The service is present but the intangibility factor is comparatively lower as various methods have been used to overcome them. Thus its a known fact that BEST bus is always red in colour. The interiors and exteriors of all the busses are alike.

In BEST, transportation is the core product. Since it is intangible in nature a service company satisfy its customers by providing several tangible clues like: Colour and design of the bus Clean and well built bus stops logo of the bus Proper information on stops regarding number of bus which will stop on the bus stop Cushioned seats inside the buses Proper display Uniform of the conductor and the driver Well-trained personnel for complaint handling or grievances. Inseparability: Tangible products are produced first and consumed later. However, in case of service industry the idea is totally different. Inseparability is a characteristic of a service indicating that it cannot be separated from the creator-seller of the product. A 133

number of services are created, delivered and consumed simultaneously through interaction between customers and service producers. Inseparability is quite high as both the passengers and the bus should be present if the transaction has to take place. To increase inseparability, BEST ensures a sufficient number of buses to see to it that whoever needs to be transported anywhere, anytime receives the service easily. Inconsistency (Variability): There may be inconsistency in the service provided since it is ultimately a human being who provides the service and not a machine. The same job may be performed differently by different individuals. In case of tangible products the task is relatively easier since technology has made it possible to produce thousands of identical products.

This factor plays a major role in the bus industry, as there is high degree of interaction between the providers (conductors) & the customers. Therefore, the conductors need to be trained how to handle different passengers. The quality of service of BEST is to a major extent limited to the conductor, so the conductor has to be well trained. The same is the case with drivers. The drivers need to be taught to drive slowly and safely. The customers are educated through BEST by putting posters in the bus regarding sitting capacity, standing capacity, how passengers should stand and move in the bus, the need for them to tender extant change, etc. Inventory (Perishability): The inventory is always associated with the cost of carrying the inventory. With services, inventory costs are more subjective and are related to capacity utilization i.e. when a service is available but there is no demand. In idle service production environment, the inventory cost relates to reimbursing staff along with any needed equipment.

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In the bus industry, the production and consumption of the service has to be done at the same time. If a bus travels its entire journey half empty then it loses the revenue that it could have got from those empty seats. This loss is irreversible. This problem is overcome by BEST by proper demand and supply management. When there is more demand for buses as in times of festivals, BEST operates extra buses. Similarly, at peak times in the mornings and late evenings, BEST operates a larger fleet than during non-peak hours.

RATER
Reliability

Assurance

Responsiveness

Tangibility

Empathy

Reliability: This dimension is shown to have the highest influence on the customer
perception of quality. It is the ability to perform the promised service dependably and 135

accurately. Transport is the lifeline of any city, and BEST being the monopoly stage carriage Operator of this great Metro, it becomes the prime duty of BEST to ensure the development of Mumbai by providing a proper transport network. Thousands of people rely on BEST busses for every day for commuting to their destination. It may be to their school, college, office etc. It is also one of the cheapest modes of travelling as compared to Rickshaw, Taxi, Car etc and hence many people rely on BEST. Therefore it becomes very necessary for BEST to provide reliable facility to its customers as such a huge population depends on its service. Just as food, clothing and shelter are considered to be the basic needs, in the same manner the BEST bus also has become an integral part in the life of the citizens of this Mumbai.

To ensure its customers that they will reach their destination on time, many services have been started by BEST. These are the facilities provided to ensure its commuters reliable service: Zero Waiting Time Plan: The BEST operates buses with Zero Waiting Time concept on different routes during the Morning and Evening peak hours to have faster clearance of heavy passenger traffic outside Railway Stations and major residential/commercial Areas. The BEST ensures that a bus is always waiting for a passenger rather than having it the other way round. The plan is designed keeping in mind the volume/period of traffic with a view to encourage use of Public Transport and discourage use of private and Intermediate Personal Transport modes like Taxis and Autorickshaws. The important points of operation are Bhatia Baug, NCPA, World Trade Center, etc. Excursion Action Plans: The city of Mumbai has various Excursion points where heavy passenger traffic is generated from the City and Suburbs during Weekends and Holidays. To cater with the heavy demand of the passengers, the BEST 136

operates Excursion Action Plans on various routes on Sundays/Holidays. Some of the Action Plans are Juhu Chowpatty Action Plan, National Park Action Plan etc. Festival Action Plans: Mumbai being a cosmopolitan city its citizens celebrate their festivals with gaiety and pomp. The BEST operates special buses during the festivals like Ganapati Festival, Diwali Festival, Christmas and New Year Eve.

Reliability is an important feature of any public transport operation. However it is not always possible to get the right timings for the most regular journeys. Our Service Delay Analysis service will analyse a particular journey, journeys or services as required over any given time period and plot any patterns that emerge. The parameters are endless in the analysis process and we can help in this area depending on the type of problems which are being encountered.

Assurance: It is defined as the ability of the company to inspire trust and confidence in
the service delivery. This dimension is considered vital for services that involve high risk as customers may not be able to evaluate all the uncertainties involved in the process by them. Information regarding the route of the bus is displayed on the top right of the bus in a box. Also this information is available on the left side of the bus. The information on top of the bus is written in Hindi and on the left side it is written in English so that it is convenient for commuters. The conductors and bus drivers are very helpful and provide correct information to its passengers thereby giving them assurance that they will reach on time. After the 7/11 bomb blasts, there was a lot of skepticism so to instill confidence back in the consumers mind, the government paid greater emphasis on security of the BEST bus. As a precautionary measure to ensure safety checks for passengers, Mumbais BEST bus service has decided to install close circuit cameras in its entire fleet of over 3,000 buses.

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Each of BESTs buses will have an audio-visual surveillance system looking out for suspicious behaviour aboard the vehicles. The electronic eyes will be in place within two months. The system, which will be installed by EMNET Electronic Security Private Limited, will include cameras at different spots in the bus and a black box showing the areas captured by the cameras at different times. The system helps the conductor or even commuters observe and single out people making suspicious movements or spot suspicious objects. The CCTV (closed circuit camera TV) installed at various positions in BEST buses will keep an eye on all activities of passengers. This can help in sending out immediate alerts and taking necessary action.

Tangibles: The job of the tangible and physical evidence of a service is multifunctional.
The customers evaluate the quality of the service on the basis of physical tangibles provided by the provider. In case of BEST bus, the first tangible feature which the commuter sees is the infrastructural facility of the bus stop. Bus stops are provided with sheds so that the passengers waiting for the bus do not have to wait in sunlight. Other tangible would include the BEST bus. These are Red in colour. If these busses are maintained properly, it will leave a good impression about the quality of the bus.. On-board tangibles will include cushioned seats, cleanliness in buses, Tickets, Uniform of conductor and driver etc. Most important is stressing on the need for cleanliness in buses. The buses are washed with water everyday and therefore the quality of cleanliness is good in buses. The seats are quite comfortable and there are separate seats for women, old and handicapped people. The uniform of the staff in the train also leave an impact on the passengers. The conductors and drivers are dressed in khaki uniform and the ticket checkers are uniformed in blue colour.

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Tickets issued by the conductor are easy to carry and provide full information about the fare. The conductor punches the amount of fare on the ticket according to the destination of the commuter. Handles which are used to hold if a commuter is standing while travelling are also provided. These handles are clean and make it easy for commuters to stand properly. Now days, LCD screens can be seen in buses. Commuters have the choice of viewing anything, right from news, music videos, advertisements to even cricket matches. This is another indicator of the good quality of service provided by BEST.

Empathy: When a service provider puts himself in the shoes of the customers, he is in a
better position to see customers viewpoint. When customers feel that the provider is making his best effort to see their viewpoint, it makes him feel wanted. BEST bus provides concessions for students, has reserved seats especially for women, handicap people and old people. 1) Free Travel Facility: Presently, the BEST provides free travel facility to the freedom fighters. One person accompanying the freedom fighter is also permitted to travel free. Municipal Councilors and Non-Councilor Members of the BEST Committee are also permitted to travel free on BEST buses. Adhoc Members of Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council, accompanied by his wife and Female Members accompanied by any one viz. husband, son, daughter, father, mother, brother or sister are allowed to travel free on BEST buses. Police personnel are allowed to travel free on BEST buses against an ad-hoc payment of compensation towards free travel facility by the Government of Maharashtra. This 139

facility of free travel however is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned services. 2) Concessional Fare: Children below 12 years of age are charged concessional fare. Student studying upto Higher Secondary and upto the age of 22 years are charged concessional fare. Persons who are 60 % and above, permanently Orthopaedically handicapped are charged concessional fare. Blind persons are charged a flat fare of Re.1/- per journey. Concessional fare facility is not available on Luxury and Air-Conditioned Services. 3) Reservation of Seats: The BEST has reserved 3 seats for handicapped person, 2 seats for Senior Citizens and 6 seats for lady passengers in the Single Decker buses. In the Double Decker buses it has reserved 3 seats each for lady passengers and handicapped persons and 2 seats for Senior Citizens. 4) Front Door Entry: The BEST have permitted physically and mentally handicapped persons, senior citizens, and expectant mothers to board the bus from the front door except at starting point. Other passengers have to board the bus from the back door and get down from the front door. 5) Festival Action Plans: Mumbai being a cosmopolitan city its citizens celebrate their festivals with gaiety and pomp. The BEST operates special buses during the festivals like Ganapati Festival, Diwali Festival, Christmas and New Year Eve. 6) Ladies Special & Ladies First Services: In Order to reduce the hardships faced by the Ladies commuters, while boarding the bus during the peak hours, the BEST has introduced Ladies Special Trips on heavily patronised routes. Similarly Ladies First At Starting Points trips are also provided to facilitate lady commuters.

Responsiveness: The willingness to help the customer or willingness of employees to

go beyond ones job is called responsiveness. One needs to understand the customers viewpoint and then respond accordingly. The second aspect of responsiveness is speedy 140

response to a customer request. When response is delayed, a customer usually losses interest in the service. The BEST is very responsive to its customers. They try to solve the problems of its customers in the best possible manner and as fast as possible. In case a bus breaks down, another bus is called by the conductor and passengers can continue with their journey without having to pay again in this new bus. Another example in this context could be how BEST dealt during 26/7 floods. At that time all modes of vehicles had refused to work due to water clogging. At this time BEST provided exceptional service. BEST buses were the only mode of road transport moving on roads filled with waters till there was a traffic jam. Where private vehicle owners left their vehicles on the roads and left, BEST was trying its best to help people reach their destination. Some 647 of BESTs buses were damaged in rains but the BEST didnt wait for the repair of the parts of the buses instead they simply replaced it and the buses were back on road within hours. These show the responsiveness of BEST towards their customers.

SERVICE RECOVERY
The service delivery of best has to meet up to the expected levels of the customers so that the experience of the traveler is not degraded, but sometimes service failure happens due to some technical issues which may be totally unavoidable and need some time to be dealt with. In the presence of such unavoidable situations it is necessary from the end of the BEST to have some plans in place so that the passengers enjoy seamless and undisrupted connectivity between places. In case of certain breakdowns during the process of carrying customers between destinations, it is assured from the end of the best that the traveler is shifted on another bus so that he can reach his destination with the help of the same ticket and his journey is not disrupted. After having learned its lessons from the punishing monsoons of Mumbai, BEST department has already put in place a disaster recovery plan so that the services provided by it are not disturbed due to the heavy monsoons. The following are some of the plans implemented by them so that the passengers of Mumbai enjoy their journey without any disruptions during the onset of monsoons and the BEST being a public sector 141

enterprise is able to carry out its obligation of carrying passengers even in the situations of necessity. Sometimes a minor defect puts a bus out of action. Therefore, in order to ensure that a bus does not get stuck on the road for long, mechanics are stationed specially for the job at some of the starters chowkies at the important termini. To deal with major defects, there is a Breakdown Lorry or Van. The van goes to the ailing bus, and sets it right as quickly as possible. The schemes like bus running control, the wireless van, etc. are in operation. The wireless van is a special feature. It does important jobs like reporting breakdowns of vehicles to the staff concerned or asking for extra buses at points where there are inordinately long queues of passengers. These schemes are definitely instrumental in increasing efficiency. And yet they seemed to fall short of the requirements.

Standard operating procedure for responding to monsoon related flooding in greater Mumbai Provide Information to the public regarding cancellation, re-routing and delays in operation of buses, location of temporary shelters arranged by MCGM and the measures being undertaken to restore normalcy of services. Deploy additional buses along certain routes to clear passenger traffic. Organize transport for stranded passengers, particularly from railway stations and for children from schools. Disaster Management Plan Senior Officers appointed as Co-ordinating Officers for posting in BEST Control Room and Disaster Management Control Room. Posting of Officers at 29 vital locations throughout Mumbai during duty / off duty hours. 142

Plan for operation of 425 buses from major railway stations / strategic points for transporting stranded passengers. Plan for diversion of buses at 55 locations. Fully equipped Control Room with hotlines connected to Police Control, Traffic Police, Western Railway, Civil Defence and Disaster Management Control. Control Room manned round the clock by Officers and equipped with landline / WLL telephones and Wireless system for immediate contact with depots and patrolling jeeps.

Depots / Patrolling jeeps equipped with wireless sets, walkie talkie sets and megaphones. Formation of Core Team at depot level. Posting of Officers round the clock at Zonal Level during monsoon. Constant monitoring of flood points / rail position during heavy rains. Daily co-ordination with Western / Central Railway, Disaster Management Control and Weather Bureau to ascertain position. Dissemination of information to the public through public address system / posting of line supervisory staff.

Steps / procedure for activating disaster management plan Receipt of information about weather condition from Meteorological Department. Conveying of message and its analysis by Senior Officers. Disaster Management Plan will be activated on notification of alert. Divisional Officers will be informed to rush to the location of the disaster and take necessary measures as per the plan. Co-ordinating Officers will rush to Traffic Control and Disaster Management Control Rooms.

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SERVICE TRIANGLE
In a triangle, all three sides are essential to complete the whole. For services all three marketing activities represented by the sides of the triangle which are critical for the success of the company; without one of the sides in place, the triangle or the total marketing effort cannot be optimally supported.

Company: The company is the dreamer and the offeror. The company dreams up an idea
of service offering which will satisfy the customers expectation. The company is established with the basic objective of providing the transport service. The company makes promises to its customers regarding what they can expect and how it will be delivered. The company in the transportation sector in case of road transport via busses is BEST. The BEST understood the needs of people and thus provided buses which cover various routes and thus provides convenience to its commuters.

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Provider: They are a companys internal customers constituting employees. These are
finally the persons (staff) who interact with the customer. They are the ones who carry out the final transaction. This interface of the customer with the company is done through the customers interaction with the employees of the company. In order to keep its promises, the company through its employees sets facilities to deliver the promises. Hence the company aims at offering its providers with the required infrastructure and training to optimize the quality of the transaction. During interaction, employees and customers meet face to face and the actions of service employees will be a major factor in influencing the customers expectations of the service. Customers evaluation of services is based on their interaction with service employees, therefore it is of the utmost importance that service organizations continuously strive to improve the quality of interactions. People forget how fast you performed a service but they remember how well you did it. Service organizations must therefore ensure that their service employees have the skills and ability to perform the service to meet the customers expectations. The reliability of services is tested every time a customer interacts with the employees and the service provider whom they represent. In case of BEST bus, the conductor comes to every individual and issues ticket. This reduces the inconvenience of commuters who are standing in one part of the bus to travel all the way to take the ticket. Also if a passenger is confused about the name of the bus stop he wants to get down, even if he mentions some known land mark, the conductor will issue the ticket accordingly as the fare of 2-3 consecutive bus stops is same. The drivers of BEST buses are also very careful while driving and they make sure that the passengers reach their destination on time and safely. If commuters have some problem they can consult and solve his query. The Undertaking has a well-equipped Training Center for the traffic staff and designed program to re-educate them on such relevant topics as fuel conservation, safety measures, behaviour with the public etc. 145

Customers: Customers are the persons who have certain needs, wants and desires. The
company makes promises to its customers. They are the reasons for the existence of a Company and for whom the company designs its service as well as setup infrastructure facilities and spends money on employee developments programs.

In case of BEST the providers are the only ones who interact with the customers. Customers interact with conductors and not the BEST. Conductors have the responsibility of keeping promises made and enabled by the company. In BEST, the customers refer to those people who feel the need of travelling from one place to another. There are two types of customers, individual and institutional. Individual customers are those who commute for their own needs and institutional customers are those who commute on behalf of their employer to finish some given task.

CUSTOMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR

1. Awareness of need: The need of the customer should be known exactly by him so that he is able to define his objectives of travelling by a particular mode of transport and is clear about the distance to be travelled and the level of comfort desired by him for reaching his journey. 2. Information search: Travelers take the help of their relatives, friends etc to know about the various modes of transport available to reach the required destination. Define needs: The needs have to be clearly defined by the traveler as area of preferences has to be sorted out amongst time, money, convenience. Explore solution: The next logical step would be to explore options between various available solutions. For a ROAD transport commuter he has to choose between bus, private vehicles, rickshaws or taxis and decide which mode of transport could be more appropriate. 146

Identify alternatives: A comparison between bus and other alternatives like rickshaws, taxis and private vehicles should be made by the commuter so as to zero down on the best alternative to carry out the journey

3. Evaluation of alternatives: - The alternatives have to be evaluated so that the advantages and disadvantage of each of the listed alternatives are known and best alternatives can be revisited and selected for a comfortable and undisrupted journey being carried out by him. For example, if the individual is travelling by rickshaw though he will reach his destination quickly, but the cost will be high whereas in case of BEST bus, cost will be low and the time taken will be little high. 4. Request service from chosen service provider: The next step in this sequential order would be to order the service from the desired service provider either by boarding the required mode of service and paying the applicable set of rates for the service being enjoyed by him. In case of BEST, when the individual boards the bus, he is in a way requesting the BEST to issue him ticket to reach his destination. 5. Evaluation: After experiencing the service provided by the service provider the traveler would then evaluate the experience of his journey i.e. the services delivered to him by his service provider gap between what he got and what he expected. If the individual does not get what he expected, a gap is created. 6. Future intensions : If the service delivery of the service provider has exceeded the expectations of the customer than the standards set him in his frame of mind then the customer prefer to travel by the same mode in future so that he continues to enjoy the same set of services in the future and his experience of a good journey is not spoiled ,and if he has a bad journey then the customer would not enjoy travelling by the same mode of transport again

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POSITIONING
The postioning of the BEST has been done in such a manner such that the people of all classes can travel by it but its main focus is aam janta which constitutes the majority of population of INDIA, the design of the fares are in such a manner so that the affordability is not an issue for normal travelling people and they can enjoy a smooth and a safe ride while travelling with it. The BEST mainly provide travelling to the customers in the inroads of MUMBAI with safety being the main concern. BEST being a public sector undertaking has to create an infrastructure which benefits the people of all classes and focus on all. It has been positioned as being a mass rapid transport system which creates a medium of transport for all members of society so that they benefit by making use of such low cost modes of transport. The BEST positioning if you compare to other such infrastructure providing facilities has been done in such a manner that it is quite cheaper as compared to 148

other private modes of transport like rickshaws , taxis , cars . It is an economical mode of transport. The new lines of AC buses have been cleverly placed on the routes that are mainly used by the working class sections of the society so that they can enjoy the benefits of the luxury offered by such buses and avoid their privately held vehicles and thus prevent already congested roads of this metro from a slow nail of death. Its positioning is mainly for the middle section and even the upper economic sections of the society, so that they walk away from their cars nad other modes such as TAXIS , RICKSHAWS AND COOL CABS. In short you could say that the positioning of the BEST is more politically oriented or whether socially oriented , but in general it is for the aam janta , so that they can enjoy a comfortable ride without having to shelve out uneconomical rates and burn their already hollow pockets.

FISH BONE
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, a Japanese quality control statistician, invented the fishbone diagram. Therefore, it may be referred to as the Ishikawa diagram. The fishbone diagram is an analysis tool that provides a systematic way of looking at effects and the causes that create or contribute to those effects. Because of the function of the fishbone diagram, it may be referred to as a cause-and-effect diagram. The design of the diagram looks much like the skeleton of a fish. Therefore, it is often referred to as the fishbone diagram. Root-cause analysis (also known as Ishikawa fishbone analysis) Ishikawa, the originator of this exercise, suggested that most problems have their causes in: materials people Back office personnel 149

 Front office personnel machines/equipment procedures Information Customers Other causes

This means that any problem can be analysed using the following diagram:

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FLOWER OF SERVICE
Flower of Services has been greatly divided into eight petals of a flower. It broadly consists of: 1. Information 2. Consultancy 3. Order-taking 4. Hospitality 5. Safe-Keeping 6. Exceptions 7. Billing 8. Payments

Now all these petals will be explained in details 1) Information: Information broadcasting plays a critical role in any kind of organization. BEST Buses lend up the required information in many ways, to begin with generally on the front and side of the Red busses route details are written in Hindi Language. However on some of the Bus Stops route details are given in English on the board. Best chart offers a flexible service to bus operators and local authorities who are responsible for bus stop infrastructure and publicity. They post the information of roadside timetable on the depots. Compilation of roadside timetable information from data supplied is available on the roads and with booksellers. BEST uses its Web site primarily for delivering information to the public. This site gives information about bus routes and buses between locations. Getting information on all the routes of such a complicated network is exactly what BEST commuters want. BEST has about 6,000 buses which run from one end of Mumbai to the other on multiple routes.

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The website is a wealth of information. Here are some interesting tidbits got from the website Bus Route No. 166 - plies on roads interconnecting maximum Hospitals. Bus Route No. 161 - This route covers on the way maximum Oil Reservoirs. They have also published a book named THE BEST STORY in the year 1972. Route Information: The users of a couple of mobile services can get the information of their entire route network on their mobile phones. BEST commuter will also receive information on BEST route numbers, BEST origin stop to final destination stop, BEST origin stop to hospital name, BEST AC routes, BEST Express and BEST help on their mobile device. In addition, The Tata Indicom BEST route mobile service will provide extensive information to Tata Indicom customers. The option ranges from: The list, frequency, starting and finishing stop information of all the BEST buses across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. The routes of all 338 buses including ring buses, extra buses, AC Buses, Limited, Ordinary and Express Buses. The service covers the details for all 2,997 bus stops in Mumbai The service provides the details and buses available from the origin and 14 hospitals in Mumbai city BEST has launched smart card services for its commuters. This card has a chip embedded on it carrying all relevant information. The chip inside covers details such as the route permitted and the validity of the card. All the buses will also use GPS devices to track the current position of the bus. The GPS will monitor the movement of buses, its speed, number of passengers, vacant seats, stoppages - both authorised and unauthorised - and height in terrain where it is traveling. The Global Positioning System (GPS) will be linked to the stops later.

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The GPS will allow commuters to know exactly where a bus is along a route, making it possible to know if it will be on time. However, commuters will have to wait longer for the most eagerly awaited feature. The proposed scheme of BEST is to have a RFID tag affixed to the busses while the readers are conveniently mounted at intersections, lamp posts or bus stops. The crucial information associated with a tag is the specific bus number, the capacity of the bus, the route number currently plying and the termination point (for example, during non-peak hours a bus may terminate at a depot before its usual terminating point). Tag readers continually monitor passing buses and transfer this information in real-time to a central computer. This service can be used for multiple purposes to locate and control bus movement in the metro city. For example, in the event of an accident causing traffic congestion on a particular road, the buses leading to the road can be informed. In some cases, the routes of the bus can be changed temporarily and accordingly bus driver can be informed via wireless network. Or if it is found that a particular bus was stuck in traffic and that has led to a smaller gap with the next bus, the bus driver of the next bus can be informed to slow down to increase the gap. Many such applications can be thought of based on such an RFID application. 2) Consultancy: Consultancy is the practice of giving expert advice within a particular field. It may also be in the form of suggestions provided to the people when he is interested in gaining more information about a product or a service of a particular industry. This method has become an attractive tool for the industries as it helps in turning people into your customers. Therefore, many industries started adopting this strategy of gaining more and more people. However, in case of BEST Buses, they neither have any specific consultancy firms nor consultants. If a bus traveler has some doubt then the bus conductor helps in clearing those doubts. If a customer is new to some area then the bus conductor can

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help in suggesting where to get down i.e. which bus stop (especially when customer doesnt know where exactly he has to get down). 3) Order-taking : Order taking refers to the procedure of order given by the customer to the industry for the required services. The most common method used for order taking is directly purchasing tickets. The customer can buy tickets directly from the conductor. There is no means of intermediaries. Smart cards are now used by the commuters for everyday travelling. These can be checked with the help of a handheld device by the bus attendant (conductor). If the card is valid, the conductor gets a green signal and card is authenticated. This RFID enabled smart card will work as a prepaid card which will allow citizens to travel in any mode without worrying about cash in their pockets. It will also make easy for the bus conductors 4) Hospitality : previews the performance of the services provided or the behavior in which the service provider reacts to their customers. It has always been a kind of ritual in India for offering a warm welcome to their guest. That is, it is basically a service performance. It includes various aspects such as the surrounding, infrastructure, appearance, speaking tone etc. It can either click the customer or flip the customer. Well hospitality in the case of BEST Buses is provided only through Bus drivers and Bus Conductors. These are the front line people or employees whom the customers meet. There are no such proper training programs conducted for this staff. There is some orientation programs specially conducted for them. It all depends upon person to person for their speech, their attitude, their behavior etc. There are some seats specially booked for ladies in Buses, and if in case any male sit on that seat with the female standing in the same bus, then that female has a full right to lodge a complain, and the conductor will make sure that the female gets the seat.

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5) Safe keeping: for the safety of travelers the system must include the following elements (Federal Transit Administration, 2001): Safety Process-Centric Elements Safety Data Acquisition/Analysis Accident/Incident Reporting & Investigation Hazard Identification/Resolution Process Emergency Response Planning, Coordination and Training Internal Safety Audit Process Human-Centric Elements Driver Selection (Basic safety element) Driver Training (Basic safety element) Drug & Alcohol Programs(Basic safety element) Employee Safety Program Fitness for Duty (additional requirements beyond the drug and alcohol requirements) Rules/Procedures Review Contractor Safety Coordination Infrastructure & Equipment-Centric Elements Vehicle Maintenance (Basic safety element) Facilities Inspections Maintenance Audits/Inspections Hazardous Materials Program Alternative Fuels and Safety Operating Environment and Passenger Facility Management Dedicated Busway or Roadway Inspection and Maintenance

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In addition, special attention has to be paid to safety of women (METRAC, 2000) and children (see for example a report prepared by the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services, 1998). Such policies should ensure that women and children are free from violence and the threat or fear of violence in buses, bus stops and on their access trips. 6) Billing: Billing is one of the most important aspects as level of convenience provided by the service provider in the billing process will attract more and more customers towards the company. The billing process should avoid all kinds of complexities as the customer would be wanting a simple procedure so that he does not have to spend much time. The billing process of the best is quite simple as the customer is billed by providing an ticket of an appropriate amount as soon as he enters the bus. This mode of billing is most popular, but nowadays smart card a pre paid card introduced by the best has also become quite popular as it breaks free customer from the complexities of carrying coins for the day to day billing done by the conductors in the bus., Smart card is basically the prepaid card valid mostly for a limited period so that the customer pays a particular amount for a particular month for unlimited travel between two destinations for which the pass is validated. 7) Payment: Payment in BEST is carried out by two modes . The most popular mode being the cash payment done by the customer as soon as the customer enjoys the service and this leads to a hassle free journey for the passenger, but sometimes this cash paymentr leads to a quite amount of trouble for the passenger as the desired amount of change is not available with the driver and he has to scout for change as soon as he enters the bus and sometimes even has to get downof the bus as he couldnot make the available fare required in change , which leads to quite amount of trouble for the passenger . The other mode is the new system launched by thebest department in which the passenger is billed for the amount which is a monthly charge and payment s accpeted in the form of the cash as the debit cards have still not being used as mode of payment by the best department. Even the ebooking facility has not been started by this department as the need for it has not been 156

GAP MODEL
Consumers quality perceptions are influenced by a series of distinct gaps occurring in organizations:

Expected service
Customer gap

Perceived service

The gaps may be due to: 1. Not knowing what the consumers expect 2. Not selecting right service designs & standards 3. Not delivering the service standards 4. Not matching the performance to promises Gap 1: Not Knowing What Customers Want The first type of gap is the one that exists between the expected service by the customer and the company perception of the customer expectations. Expected service is the highest level of desired service existing in the minds of the customers. Company perception of the customer expectations is nothing but the companys understanding of what the customers want. This is the gap brought about by either the ignorance or misunderstanding of customer expectation. Generally, not knowing what the customers expect can lead to huge losses for the organization. But in our case, there is no option in front of commuters who travel by buses. These people, in most of the cases, are not who belong to the elite class. They represent the common man who does not get the privilege to travel by autoricshaws or cars. Hence, the government has a kind of monopoly when it comes to the 157

buses. The Aam janta travels by these modes since it is more economical to travel by them. Gap 2: Inability to Set the Right Type of Standards Even if a firm does have a clear understanding of its customers expectations, there still may be problems if that understanding is not translated into customer driven service designs and standards. The customers may have service standard expectations that may be either higher or lower than the standards set by the company. In case of BEST, Commuters have to pay the entire fare irrespective of the fact that they get a place to sit or not. This is the harsh but true reality in case of BEST. It is a right of a customer to get a place to sit. However, due to the increasing population, people travelling in the buses just hope to get a seat. This has resulted in this gap. BEST states that it provides so many fleets of buses so that commuters do not have to wait for the bus instead the bus waits for them. But this does not happen in reality. The frequency of the buses is not upto the mark. People have to stand in long queues waiting for the bus. The principle of Time is Money is not applicable to the service providers.

Gap 3: Not delivering to Service Standards This is the most common type of failure brought about by day-to-day difficulties in the service delivery. The common causes for this failure are: Lack of the right type or trained employees for service delivery Lack of empowerment of the employees Failure to predict or match the supply-and-demand fluctuations

This gap occurs In BEST if the conductor or the driver does not respond preoperly. However, conductors are amiable and provide commuters with required information and therefore this gap is not present in case of BEST.

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Gap 4: Mismatch between Promises and Performance There is a great temptation to promise the world in order to win over the customers. However, it may be either physically impossible or financially unviable to provide all that is promised. This usually results in customer dissatisfaction. The typical reasons for failure are: Uncontrolled communication to customers Overpromising through advertisement Lack of internal communication in letting the people know what was promised

BEST does not overpromise its commuters. It promises its customers safe travel and does fulfill this aspect. Hence this gap is not valid in case if BEST buses. A successful organization tries to fill up all the gaps. There is a huge room of improvement & hance the governemt should take take care of all the above mentioned factors. Even a minute change in terms of improvement will satisfy a huge number of people.

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COMPLAINT HANDLING
No matter how well prepared you are there is always the potential for something to go wrong. The way you and your personnel handle complaints can be the determining factor in turning a "disaster" into a "success." 1. Listen: The company should prepare its personnel to listen and to handle each complaint as if it were the most important part of their day. For example if a railway passenger has some problem, his complaint should be listened carefully and solution should be brought about. 2. Understand: Make sure personnel have a full understanding of the complaint. Prior to responding to the complaint they need to determine the exact nature of the complaint. Personnel should try to focus in on the main context of the complaint, and not be diverted by side issues. 3. Take Action: The passengers should be able see that he/she matters, and that the company seriously considers their complaint. Make sure the upset visitor knows exactly what can or cannot be done, and what he/she may expect as a form of recompense. If the problem cannot be solved, immediately tell the visitor approximately how long it will take to find a solution. Often something as simple as an inexpensive complimentary gift or some special attention from the manager or boss can turn a negative situation into a positive one. 4. Learn: Every complaint and/or complainer provides the passenger with a learning experience. Have your personnel share with colleagues what things went wrong, and the steps they took to correct the situation. Keep records of past complaints, not only for inhouse training purposes, but also as a guide of future problems to prevent.

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Dealing with difficult people Here are some suggestions as to how staff member can cope with the angry guest. 1 Do not fight to win every battle. Often it is easier to simply say, "Yes Sir/Mam you are right. Very few angry visitors are willing to listen to your side of the story. 2.Take the angry person out of a public area. Whenever an angry person decides to battle in front of other "guests" one loses. Invite the person into a private room, offer him/her a drink and then listen. 3. Make sure that you know that the angry person knows that you will deal with

the issue at that moment. If a passenger is unhappy with the service, the employee should be able to convince the passenger that his complaint will be looked into and solution will be brought about. 4. Use the person's right name and title. If the angry passenger introduces him/herself as "Dr. Smith" don't say permission. situation. 5. Make sure that the person addressing the problem is competent doing something. Never just shrug one's shoulders and say "sorry!" 6. Rather than getting angry, try to think of something comical. yourself. HELPLINE The BEST is working hard to improve the quality of service given to the commuters. The various cadres of authorities closely monitor the services for maintaining the Punctuality, 161 For example, to solve it. If Mr. or Ms. Smith and don't use a first name unless given The misuse of names or titles only adds fuel to an already explosive

a member of your staff cannot solve a problem, then turning to someone who can help, is

imagine what this person would look like angry in his/her underwear, and then laugh to

Reliability, and Regularity. Passenger's suggestions, queries, and complaints are heard/examined and rightful decisions are taken.

SMS 3040 is an SMS based interactive service offered by the Mumbai traffic police that as of now is used to send complaints but can later be used to retrieve real-time traffic information and other purposes. The BEST is using flexible and dynamic technologies, in order to give maximum benefit to the citizens of Mumbai. Apart from e-mail, variable messaging boards and SMS facility, they are spreading awareness through FM on a daily basis. A newly launched Web based service from the Mumbai Traffic police provides early notifications of traffic jams and routes to be avoided. It also has e-groups for the same in which you can register to get e-mails with traffic updates. Apart from that, the site has a facility called e-Complain, using which citizens can launch a complaint about various problems faced by them while travelling by Taxi or rickshaw or other modes.

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PRODUCTIVITY & QUALITY

The BEST always gets suggestions for introducing new routes. These suggestions are categorised into the above mentioned groups. While introducing the bus operation on any new road the following requirements are ensured for maintaining the quality of service. 1) The road is Municipalised. 2) The road is Bus worthy and wide enough to allow the passage of two vehicles at a time. 3) There are no overhead obstructions in the form of cables/tree branches. 4) There are enough streetlights. 5) Manoeuvering is comfortable and there are no blind corners. 6) There is a good turning circle at the terminating point for reversing the buses.

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CONCLUSION
More than a means of transport, BEST has inculcated a culture amongst Mumbaikars to use public transport in preference to personal vehicles since the buses are clean and are always on time. Right from the posh areas of Peddar Road to the far away suburbs, Mumbaikars never hesitate to travel in BEST. It is very normal to see someone walking out of an up-market club like NSCI in Worli, to get into a BEST to reach his residence on Peddar road. In the 3,500-strong BEST fleet, except for 50, all buses are from Ashok Leyland. Unique models like double decker, vestibule, CNG, low-floor and a/c coaches are all part of this fleet. All the Ashok Leyland chassis are tailor-made for BEST in consultation with the customer right from design stage. Mumbaikars are truly proud of BEST. Future plans: Intranet will be used to connect all the depots and major bus stations. Interactive voice response systems will be installed at the major bus stations. Electronic display systems will be installed at major bus stops.

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RAIL- ROAD CO-ORDINATION

Road and railways both are complementary modes of transport and are mutually beneficial. But in the post war years, there emerged competition between road and railways. Road transport offers stiff competition to railways in India. Hence attempts were made periodically to regulate road transport and achieve proper rail-road coordination. Transport co-ordination can be defined as a relationship between different agencies of transport having unified, to give better facilities to the public and at the same time allowing each mode of transport to work where it is best suited. The problem of rail-road coordination has acquired special significance due to the nationalisation of road transport n various states. The central government owns the railways and the state government owns the bus transport services. It therefore becomes a matter of adjustment and understanding between the two. Coordination is necessary in the national interest, to the extent of, avoiding rate wars and also unnecessary duplication of services. The railways should concentrate on heavy and long distance traffic and busses should cater to short and medium distance traffic. The railways cannot collect enough produce to transport unless there are good roads. At the same time even the best of the roads cannot place the producers of agricultural produce, cement, iron and steel and other bulky commodities in touch with the final consumer without the help of railways. Hence both roads and railways need to coordinated properly.

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