RailEnquiry

Gurgaon  -- Several BPOs and corporate firms in Gurgaon are devising new ways to deal with increased transportation costs and frequent fuel price hikes. Call centres, which run a huge cab fleet to ferry employees across NCR, have suffered a major blow after diesel prices were hiked by Rs. 5 on Thursday. Firms are now encouraging employees to use mass transit systems like the Delhi Metro. Corporates have also set high hopes on the upcoming intra-city Rapid Metro Rail which is slated to become operational in DLF Cyber City area from April 2013. Leading BPOs have been encouraging their staff to switch to the Metro. Apart from introducing monthly travel allowance of Rs. 800-1,000 for one-way commute, companies have installed Metro smartcard recharge kiosks on office premises. The Metro not only cuts the cost of running a cab fleet but also reduces carbon emissions. Keshav R Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS, said, "We look forward to the launch of the Rapid Metro. Almost 40% of our 3,000-strong workforce uses the Delhi Metro after the company launched an initiative called "WNS on Metro" in September last year. As the nearest Metro station (Sikanderpur) is located two kilometres away, the company provides a shuttle service. We also encourage the use of Smart Ride buses, an air-conditioned shuttle within DLF City." Another firm, InterGlobe Technologies, gave the Metro a try during the 2010 Commonwealth Games when traffic movement was restricted due to heightened security. At present, more than 50% of its 2,000 employees use the Delhi Metro. According to Nasscom, more than 60% BPO employees use the Metro services.