State run Odisha Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has launched an Android app to let users in Odisha to make bus bookings online, reports The Hindu. OSRTC operates under the Government of Odisha’s Transport & Commerce Department across 18 divisions. The report adds that the OSRTC iOS app is in the making and will be released soon. Users of the app can pay through credit and debit card, internet banking or mobile wallets. On its website, OSRTC states that top destinations include Konark Sun Temple, Puri, Dhauli Hill and Chilla Lake. OSRTC operates 190 services intra and inter-state (Bhawanipatna - Visakhapatnam via Jeypore, Nabarangpur - Vijayawada, Vishakhapatnam - MV 79, Vishakhapatnam - Umarkote, Visakhapatnam - Chitrakonda and Visakhapatnam - Umarkote (Day)) on over a 100 routes. The OSRTC site helpfully lists the agents and stations from where users can book bus tickets offline. An annual report for 2014- 2015 (pdf) written possibly in pencil (!!) states that there are 351 vehicles on the road, and 107 are currently not plying. Currently, there is also another Android app called Odisha bus service from M-governance, but it operates only on 4 routes: Bhubaneswar - Baripada, Kalpana - Puri, Cuttack - Paradeep and Cuttack - Jagatsinghpur. $1.5 million profit in 2012-15 Last month, the OSRTC made a profit of Rs 10.53 crore from 2012-2015, according to transport minister Ramesh Majhi. Of this, Rs 277.5 lakh profit was made in 2012-13, Rs 73.8 lakh in 2013-14, Rs 503.2 lakh in 2014-15 and Rs 198.5 lakh in 2015-16…
