10 Most Popular Bus Booking Apps In India That Are Redefining the Way We Plan to Travel
People no longer need to plan hours in advance to secure a bus reservation. There were long queues at ticket booking office counters and lengthy waiting times over the telephone. People had to deal with a lot of problems when booking bus tickets. In India, the situation is completely different. On-demand bus booking apps are becoming more popular and easier to use. This makes it easy and quick to make a reservation for a bus trip.
According to a report, India has seen a dramatic rise in the popularity of online bus ticketing over the past few decades. Nearly two thousand private bus operators operate in the country with twenty thousand buses. This industry is rapidly growing and is one of the most popular modes of travel in the country.
Startups in Bus Booking Apps: Business Models
Online bus booking sites are based primarily on these two types business models: self-owned and aggregated. Let’s take a closer look at how they work:
Model Aggregator
These companies work with travel agencies and bus operators who own and manage the buses. These companies don’t need to maintain buses. It is the responsibility of the partners/travel agencies to maintain their vehicles. Simply put, bus aggregator companies connect buses with customers and charge a fee.
Model of a Self-Owned Fleet
The self-owned bus/fleet model allows owners to create Bus Booking Apps their own apps and better connect with customers. They don’t have any fees to get bookings and the profit margin is greater than that of an aggregator.
India’s Top Bus Booking Apps
RedBus
RedBus was founded by Phanindra Samaj, Charan Padmaraju, and Sudhakar Pasupunuri, in August 2006. It started with just a few seats for one bus operator. Today, redBus can be called India’s largest online ticket booking platform and is trusted by over 8 millions happy customers around the world. The company provides bus ticket bookings through its website, Android or iOS apps for all major routes. RedBus offers outstation car and hotel bookings. RedBus also offers pilgrimage packages.
Recent news reports that the company has partnered up with Google Maps for inter-city bus information and train route statistics.
AbhiBus
AbhiBus, which was launched in 2008 by Sudhakar Churra in India, faced a difficult start. The Indian bus travel market at the time was very unorganized. Now, the company is a multi-crore enterprise for its end-to end software solutions as well as other value-added services. AbhiBus offers bus travel tickets for over 2500 operators on more than 100000 routes.
AbhiBus introduced Abhimovies, a new feature that allows passengers to stream movies from any device on the bus. AbhiBus was negotiating with venture capital firms to raise approximately $15 million through the divestiture of 25%. The company is valued at Rs 450 crore.
MakeMyTrip
MakeMyTrip is a key player in the Indian travel industry today. It is more than a bus booking platform. In fact, it has become India’s largest travel portal over the years.
Deep Kalra founded MakeMyTrip, which began its journey in serving the US-Indian travel market. The company offers a wide range of high-value products and services that are powered by technology and 24/7 customer support. It opened its India operations in 2005. Travelers can book their travel easily with just a few mouse clicks.
Recent news reports that MakeMyTrip has launched an array of standalone and curated experience offerings for travelers in India via its app. These experiences will be expanded to include Indian business and leisure destinations in the future.
ClearTrip
ClearTrip is an online travel agency that provides comprehensive solutions for booking hotels and flights. ClearTrip, founded by Stuart Crighton in 2006, has been a major player in the online travel booking market. According to a report, ClearTrip claimed that it focuses on its core products such as activities in India or the international market.
Paytm Bus Booking
Paytm was founded by Vijay Sekhar Sharma and based in Noida in 2010. It is both an online payment platform and digital wallet. The company also partnered with Indian bus aggregators and launched its bus ticket market in 2015. Paytm allowed cashless payments to be made in the unreserved sector of bus bookings. Abhishekrajan, Paytm’s VP and Head, Travel Business, stated that they sell approximately 4,000,000 bus, train, and plane tickets each month. They hope to double that figure by March 2019.
Travelyaari
The bus booking startup, which was founded by Prateek Nagam, Aurvind Lama and Parthasarathi Sinha in Bangalore in April 2008, is one of India’s largest online bus booking portals. It boasts a network that includes over 3,500 bus operators, 150,000 buses per day and more than 70,000 routes. This website has been used by over 150 million passengers. With its online bus booking app you can instantly book bus tickets and receive notifications about special offers and seasonal discounts. Since the company raised $7 million in funding in 2016, the company has been using the funds to develop products, market establishment, marketing activities and team building.
TicketGoose
TicketGoose India is another leading ticket booking platform for bus tickets. It serves over 3000 destinations across India, with 10,000+ buses operating on 20,000+ routes. Its website is not the only place you can book your tickets. You can also use its iOS and Android mobile apps to make bookings hassle-free. Arun Athiappan founded the company from Chennai in 2007 with Karthi and Easwaramoorthy. They are committed to providing customers with consistent value, support and service and best usability. TicketGoose also offers bookings for buses.
MyBusTickets
MyBusTickets, a cloud-based online booking portal for bus tickets, is an award-winning platform that makes booking RSRTC or UPSRTC buses easy and quick. MyBusTickets lists over 65,000 inter-city buses in more than 20 states and 200+ major cities since it was established in 2009. MyBusTickets provides customers 24/7 convenience to book bus tickets from anywhere, anytime.
eTravelSmart
eTravelSmart, India’s largest bus stock, allows customers to book seats for as low as 20% of the total ticket price. Bookings can be made via website, phone or mobile app. Bhav Singh co-founded the company in 2013. The company currently has over 3000 operators on more than 80000 routes throughout India.
VIA
Vinay and Amit Gupta launched VIA in 2006. It was previously known as FlightRaja.com. VIA allows for easy and quick bookings of flights, hotels, holidays packages, and forex. The website also features a section for suppliers, affiliates and a place where corporates, agents, and hoteliers can list and sell their products. VIA partnered up with Ola in 2016 to offer a cab booking service. Customers can access the Via.com app or website to view availability, estimate and track across different categories.
SRS Travels
SRS Travels is one of the most popular names in Indian road transport. SRS Travels was established by Mr. K. T. Rajashekera. It now has close to 5,500 vehicles in operation at various locations across the country. You can book a bus online or offline and get information about its schedule. SRS Travels offers online bookings for buses. You can also book tickets through its Android app.
VRL Travels
VRL Travels is an Indian transportation and logistics company based in Karnataka. They operate more than 350 routes linking nearly 100 locations with 396 luxury buses. Vijay Sankeswar founded this company and is currently the country’s largest fleet owner for commercial vehicles. VRL Travels also partners with bus aggregators. It has its own website as well as an app for Android and iOS.
Shuttl
Shuttl is the one-stop shop for office commuters who are looking for a stress-free, space efficient, comfortable, affordable, safe and secure way to get around. Shuttl, which was founded in 2005, is India’s largest provider of office transportation solutions. It currently serves more than 45,000 rides each day in many major cities. It operates over 150 long routes with a fleet of 800 buses. Users can find the best routes through their cities, pick a time slot that suits them, book the seats, and then track the progress of their shuttle.
Ridlr
Ridlr was founded by Ravi Khemani, Brijraj Vghani, in 2012 and is India’s premier local transit app. It makes it easy to commute within cities smart, simple, and even cashless. Ridlr’s unique feature is that it allows users to purchase BEST bus tickets, passes, or recharge metro cards via the app. This app is used mainly in Mumbai. You can also find information on local transport times and a schedule of public transport.
