MAM
redBus resumes intra-state bookings with 80+ private bus operators in Gujarat
redBus, India’s leading online bus ticketing platform announces resumption of the services of 80+ private bus operators on its platform in Gujarat, thus opening up around 5000+ intra-state routes connecting cities such as Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot and Bhuj.
The resumption of intra-state bus travel will effectively end the long and anxious wait for thousands of travellers who were looking to travel during the past few months amidst the lockdown. About 630+ private buses will now ply on these routes with a daily capacity of 14000+ seats, expecting a high demand for travel to big cities as thousands of people hope to return to work at the earliest.
In order to help travellers tide over the confusion of opening up of specific bus routes, redBus recently introduced the concept of pre-registration on its platform. This helps users to keep track of the opening up of their desired bus routes by giving some basic information such as phone number and email id along with the route. The users are then subsequently notified when the buses become available on redBuson their desired routes. As of 10thJune, around 5.5 lakh customers across India had already availed the pre-registration feature.
redBus has also launched, ‘Safety+’, a unique certification for bus operators who meet the highest standards of safety and sanitisation. The redBus ticketing platform indicates operators with this certification with a Safety+ tag next to the bus listing, enabling users to opt for such operators or buses.
The buses listed under ‘Safety+’ will ensure the following:
redBus has also listed out a set of passenger guidelines encouraging passengers to travel responsibly for a safe and hassle-free journey. These guidelines seek to ensure safety of bus travel. Some of the measures listed in the passenger guidelines are illustrated below:
MAM
Sameer Nair shares heartfelt note as he exits Applause Entertainment
After nine years building the streamer’s content engine, one of India’s best-known TV men is moving on
MUMBAI: Sameer Nair is out. The chief executive of Applause Entertainment, the content studio backed by Kumar Mangalam Birla’s media empire, has announced his departure after nearly nine years at the helm, closing the chapter on one of Indian entertainment’s more quietly consequential careers.
Nair, who built Applause from the ground up in its current avatar, oversaw a slate that spanned Indian originals and international adaptations, threading together a hub-and-spoke business model that partnered with streaming platforms, broadcasters and production houses alike. The results were uneven, as they always are in content, but the ambition was not.
In a post on LinkedIn, Nair was generous to his outgoing patron. He thanked Birla for being an “inspirational boss and a great patron of the arts,” and signed off with a cheerful “Au Revoir” and a promise to remain Applause’s biggest cheerleader. Whether that sentiment survives the next chapter remains to be seen.
No successor has been named. Applause Entertainment did not immediately comment.
Nair built the machine. Now someone else has to run it — and in a streaming market that is simultaneously consolidating and convulsing, that is no small ask.
