The proposed radio taxi service in Bangalore is increasingly getting mired in controversy, with competitors who lost out to Team Link set to move the court for a stay order. Team Link, part of the Rs 150-crore Punjab Wireless (Punwire) group, was awarded the contract to run the radio trunking service on August 6.
It signed the deal with the regional transport authority (RTA) by which it is the only approved and recognised company to run the service.
Quick Calls, Anco Communication and Omni Talk were the other companies short-listed by a board comprising officials from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), CDoT, RTA and the regional transport officer. The contract was awarded to Team Link as its rates were the cheapest.
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A Quick Calls official said that the company had approached the Union minister for transport to review the contract and allow more than one player to operate the service.
It claimed that Punwire did not have the DoT license to operate a Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service (PMRTS) in Bangalore. Moreover, Team Link's Raheja Towers control room did not have a SACSA clearance, the official added. (The tower has to be cleared by 14 agencies, including the Airports Authority).
Quick Calls has also claimed that its open protocol based on Motorola technology can handle more traffic than Team Link's LTR protocol based on Kenwood technology.
However, Telecommunication Engineering Centre (Bangalore) DDG, G S Raju, said Team Link did indeed have a license for a radio trunking in Bangalore. Punwire is a semi-government company, in which Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation holds 42 per cent while financial institutions and the public hold the rest. Meanwhile, Team Link is going ahead with plans to start the service at the earliest. It has had an assurance from the office of the transport commissioner that there will be no going back on the contract. It will soon be starting services with about 22 cars on the roads. "There is a view in the government circles," said regional transport officer (south) S Sreenivas," that there should be more than one player, as there would be no monopoly then. If more players means better service then it should be done."
"But Bangalore will not be able to sustain two players," said Team Link manager S Subramanian. "It is not so big as to warrant more than one player."
An Anco Communication official said that they were also planning to start the service. The contract does not say that Team Link is the sole provider, and does not force anyone to take radios from Team Link alone. The government had, initially, wanted to invite other players once the service was established.