Delhi Government Announces App-Based 'Premium Bus Service'

On the lines of app-based taxi services, Delhiites will now be able to book their seats in buses through their smarthphones from June with the AAP government Friday announcing 'Premium Bus Service' aimed at encouraging cars users to use public transport.

Only air-conditioned buses will ply under the scheme according to which one bus aggregator will have to run at lease 50 vehicles to get a licence from the Delhi government's Transport department.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai said that bus aggregators will have an individual app like Ola, Uberand they will be allowed to decide their fares, but if need arises government will prescribe upper limit of fares or take steps to check predatory pricing.

He said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

With government giving green signal to new bus service based on mobile application, Ola and Uber, which are facing criticism for surge pricing during the second phase of odd-even scheme, may also enter into new business and run app-based bus services as well in the national capital.

"Ola and Uber whoever fulfill all conditions of the permits can run 'Premium Bus Service'. Government has made compulsory installation of two CCTV cameras, Wi-Fi, and GPS in each bus to be plied under new service.

"In view of women safety, bus aggregators will have to ensure panic button in their apps," he said, adding that the registration of such buses will start from June 1.

As per new policy, bus aggregators will determine the routes on which premimum buses will ply from time to time and specify such routes along with the time schedule of each trip on its web-based application.

"App users will be required to find buses going towards their destination and thereafter they can book their seat through their phone.

Five minutes before the departure, bus aggregators will have to freeze bookings and display a list of passengers.

Drivers of the vehicle can not allow other passengers in the way who have not booked their seats," the Transport minister further said.

After accepting the booking of a passenger, aggregators can not cancel the service except upon occurrence of break-down and force majeure and in that case, companies will have to refund passenger no less than twice the amount they received from the affected passengers.

"If bus aggregator cancel booking other then reason of break-down and force majeure, they will have to pay ten times the amount the fare received," he said.

It May Become Easier to Buy SIMs for Your 'Smart' Machines Soon

To facilitate machine-to-machine communication in devices like CCTV cameras and ACs to be deployed mainly in smart cities, the Department of Telecom will soon issue 'Know Your Customers' guidelines to ensure easy availability of mobile SIM cards for such equipment.

The guidelines would allow transfer of SIMs, among others. At present, norms bar transfer of SIMs, mandates strict subscriber verification and do not allow a person to own more than nine SIMs.

"After M2M (machine-to-machine) roadmap, guidelines for M2M specific Know Your Customers (KYC) have been prepared and will be released shortly," Telecom Secretary J S Deepak said at the India M2M and IoT forum in New Delhi.

The DoT is in discussion with Ministry of Home Affairs to finalise these guidelines. DoT Deputy Director General (NT) Rajiv Sinha said these guidelines will be different from P2P communications.

"There will provision to allow SIM transfers because devices will change hands. There will be provision of no tele-verification, most important is there will be some communication allowed. Some SMS, data, and voice but on a pre-defined number," Sinha said.

The SIM that will be issued for M2M services will be in bulk. The rules will be applicable on SIMs purchased in bulk. The new guidelines are required to facilitate development of smart cities which will have devices with sensors that will communicate using SIMs or Internet connection.

Deepak said that government organisation Telecom Engineering Centre and autonomous body Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI), are working actively to foster the development of an Internet of Things ecosystem which facilitates not only M2M communication standard but looks at encryption, privacy , security angle from Indian perspective.

He said that DoT has will soon have a virtual network operator licence - the third licence which seeks to separate network operations from delivery of services.

"Such a VNO licence would help system integrator to get in to agreement with telecom operators for providing M2M services. Various initiatives are under way to make M2M ecosystem throbbing ecosystem where anyone contribute and provide us leadership in this space," Deepak said.

As per experts, the M2M segment is expected to fuel growth in telecom sector at more rapid pace compared to sale of SIM for just mobile communication.

Hotstar Launches Rs. 199 Premium Subscriptions, Offers Same Day TV Broadcasts of US TV Shows

Content streaming service Hotstar has launched a monthly subscription service priced at Rs. 199 a month, which offers a exclusive selection of movies and TV shows.

The service has been launched with the sixth season of HBO's Game of Thrones, which was available on Hotstar minutes after it finished screening in the US.

(Also read: How to Legally Watch Game of Thrones S06E01 Right Now)

Hotstar has been retweeting fans of the show on its official handle who are reporting that the footage is uncensored, but hasn't given an official confirmation on whether the service offers an uncensored version of US TV shows and movies. Hotstar's Twitter handle is calling the service 'unspoiled', which could mean that the footage is uncensored, or that it's available minutes after broadcast in the US. It seems like the social team is explicitly evading the use of the word 'uncensored', possibly to avoid controversy.

A total of 36 shows are listed in its premium TV show catalogue, notable names include Silicon Valley, Veep, and The Newsroom. The movie catalogue however, is not so exciting, with a list of around 70 Hollywood movies, the latest are from 2015.

Hotstar works over apps, available on Android and iOS, and also on the desktop, through a Web browser. This membership is currently available only in India, and the service only accepts credit cards as a mode of payment as of now. According to the FAQs, support for debit cards is coming soon, but there's no word from Hotstar on whether digital wallets like Paytm and FreeCharge will be accepted.

Netflix, which launched its subscription service in India earlier this year offers plans at Rs. 500 a month. Other players in this space include Spuul, Hungama, Eros Now, and Muvizz.