S Lalitha By Express News Service BENGALURU: A huge relief is in store for train passengers looking for first or last mile connectivity to railway stations across the city. Popular bike rental startup Wicked Ride is all set to launch 698 of its bright yellow and red Bounce scooters at parking lots across 13 railway stations in the Bangalore Railway Division within 10 days. Since Wicked Ride offered the highest bid as licence fee to the Railways, it trounced other competitors to bag the contract from Railways on Monday. Bounce vehicles are popular among commuters of Bangalore Metro, Hyderabad Metro and Nagpur Metro. Speaking to TNIE, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Bangalore Division A N Krishna Reddy said, “Bounce vehicles will make their debut at Bellandur, Yelahanka, Banaswadi, Hoodi Halt, Whitefield, Nayandahalli, Yeshwanthpur, Kengeri, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore Cantonment, Bangalore East, Baiyappanahalli and Malleswaram shortly. Parking lots have already been identified at two entrances in each of these 13 stations where these bikes can be picked or dropped off.” The move will offer immense relief to passengers who arrive or depart at these railway stations, he added. Ankit Acharya, a representative from Bounce, said, “Bangalore railway station will be the first in the country to have rental bikes at its premises. We have got a very good response from commuters of Bangalore Metro. Around 40,000 of the nearly 1 lakh daily rides undertaken in the city have been taken by Metro commuters.” The rates charged by Bounce is Rs 5/km plus 50 paise per minute, he added.Asked to explain the registration process, Acharya said, “Anyone interested in hiring a bike from us needs to download the Bounce app, upload their driver’s licence as well as a selfie. The person gets a one-time password which needs to be keyed in to use the Bounce vehicles available at any of our stations,” Acharya said. The app can be downloaded on any smartphone, he said. The vehicle can be placed at any of the licensed parking lot for Bounce after usage and the fee will be messaged to the user. “PayTM, Razor Pay, our own wallet as well as Debit or credit cards can be used for payment. Bounce will bear the fuel cost as well as insurance cost for the rider. Helmets will also be provided to those hiring the vehicle,” he said.

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