The contract won by the Indian firm is aimed at reimagining the administration of private hire vehicles and taxis in London
TCS campus in Nagpur, India. (Credit: Akki17690/Wikimedia Commons)
India-based Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has won a 10-year contract from Transport for London (TfL) to digitally transform taxi and private hire licensing and administration.
In this connection, the IT services provider will design, implement, and operate a new smart mobility system.
The contract is aimed at reimagining the administration of private hire vehicles and taxis in London.
TCS will also be responsible for ensuring continuous improvements and innovation so that TfL can cope up with the evolving trends in the industry and customer demands.
The contract can be potentially extended by another five years.
TfL taxi and private hire general manager Graham Robinson said: “An efficient and effective licensing system is paramount for any regulator overseeing taxi and private hire operations in a world city.
“We are pleased to have signed this contract with TCS, as it ensures our business keeps pace with technological developments and gives the best possible service to licensees.”
TCS said that it will employ its DigiGOV framework for rapid digital transformation for designing and launching the new smart mobility system for TfL. The DigiGOV framework is said to help in transforming legacy systems and integrating processes or internal systems that operate in silos.
The smart mobility platform will have an on-demand data and records management system. This will help in improving user experience with services such as licensing payments and refunds to vehicle owners and operators via digital channels.
According to TCS, streamlined workflows of the smart mobility system will link the user-friendly front-end interfaces with back-end activities that include personal detail processing, bookings, and vehicle inspections.
The Indian IT services firm said that the digital transition by design will nurture a self-service approach among licensees.
With data to be hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, the new system for TfL is expected to be scalable to enable future growth. At the same time, the smart mobility system will be resilient enough to ensure that customers do not face outages during operational hours.
TCS UK and Ireland country head Amit Kapur said: “TfL is the foremost transportation authority in the world with its innovative approach to managing urban transportation with the use of technology and data.
“The new TCS-designed technology system will meet TfL’s key objectives, enhance customer experience and enable future requirements including connected, shared, electric, autonomous vehicle registrations.”