Deadline over, glitches in Chandigarh's bike-sharing project remain

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 12

The deadline to fix glitches in the much-fancied public bike-sharing project got over today, but users in the city are still facing issues. Many of them are not able to end or start a ride through the SmartBike app on most occasions. While trying to open the lock of cycle, they get messages like “under maintenance” or “battery not charged”.

Also read: Open House: How to stop troublemakers from vandalising smart bicycles in Chandigarh?

Vijay Kumar, a user at the Sector 16 docking station in front of the GMSH, today repeatedly tried to open the lock, but in vain. “The app is showing a message that the cycle is under maintenance. Even calls made to the customer care are not being answered,” lamented Vijay.

A regular user, Lipika of Sector 24, said, “It is very rare that cycles get unlocked and locked without any issue. I have tried almost all the docking stations near my residence and got a poor response.”

It has been observed that many docking stations are without bicycles these days. In a random check today, Chandigarh Tribune found that there was not even a single cycle at the Sector 16 and 15 docking stations. In Sector 10, there was a single cycle, which too had a damaged tyre. At the Sector 20 docking station, there was only one cycle. However, sufficient cycles were available at Sukhna Lake.

“The agency operating the project might say that cycles are away for rides, but one wonders why these are not visible much on roads,” said a cyclist. The then UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore had launched the first phase of the project on August 12 with a total of 1,250 bicycles at 155 docking stations.

Within a few days of the launch, there were several problems in the app and cycles were also getting damaged, thus Chandigarh Smart City Limited had asked the firm to fix the issues by September 12 and not charge users till then.

Earlier, a user had to pay Rs10 plus GST for using a bicycle for half an hour. An official concerned said, “We will review it on Monday and then issue further orders.”

The company’s city head Abhinandan Malhotra has always termed it a mobile phone network issue, which could not be the reason at so many docking stations.

Unlike the City Beautiful, the neighbouring city of Panchkula provides bicycles at half the rate in the city and is successfully running the project.

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