Raj Kumar

I regret switching to @reliancejio from @airtelindia #Telecom #Jio #Airtel

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