Red Bus is neither red nor a Bus !

Red Bus is no Bus, leave alone the colour of the bus being red. It is just a ticket for Omni Bus in India. www.redbus.in is an online bus ticket booking site. I have very pleasant experience with the above site in booking bus tickets.The ticket selling company has tie-ups with 350 bus operators for a total of 4500 routes. The company was started by some software engineers of Bangalore 7 or 8 years back. I hear that the company has just been bought over by ibibo for hundreds of crores. What I liked most with their system is that they have been able to persuade at least a few bus operators to accept mTicket. mTicket is simply an sms message sent to the passenger's mobile phone after the ticket is booked.No print-outs to be taken. No worry about losing the print-out. The mTicket gives all the relevant information such as the name of the vBus service operator, the boarding point, the destination, the ticket price , the departure time, the seat number etc. You can simply show the sms to the conductor of the bus and get in. It is a boon for those passengers who have a computer and a net connection, but no printer to take a print-out. Of course, a copy of the ticket is sent to the e-mail address of the passenger. Those uncomfortable or unfamiliar with online booking, virtual ticket etc. can opt for phone booking and delivery of a conventional paper ticket. Even Sunday home delivery is available in a few cities. Like with any other online ordering, you can use credit card, debit card or internet banking. In addition, cash on delivery mode is available. You are charged Rs.40.- for delivery of the ticket at your door step. If both onward and return journey tickets are booked simultaneously, the payment is Rs.40 for both together, not Rs.40 each. Quite fair. I find the facility to choose the seat on the basis of the pictorial information given on empty seats extremely useful.