For the aam aadmi who's tired of serpentine queues, rude bus conductors, and other such, there's now an option to book bus tickets via your mobile phone (common, everyone including your bhajiwala has a mobile phone these days).

Secure mobile payment services provider mChek (www.mchek.com) has partnered with online bus ticket booking portal redBus (www.redbus.in) to offer the unique service. Currently, the partnership enables bus ticket booking through mobile across more than 4,000 routes and 300 bus operators.

The only catch is you need to register using credit card with mChek and get an mChekPIN to be able to use the service. After which, it's quite simple: send a message 'REDBUS' to the toll-free number 543219, select your journey, browse through probable routes, and also book your bus ticket -- of course, via your mobile.

The companies assure you of secure payment since you don't have to share credit card details neither through your mobile nor on the redBUS Web site. And, mChek supports all mobile phones, works across all operator networks, and doesn't need a GPRS connection.

Alternatively, you could book bus tickets online from the redBUS portal using mChekPIN sans the need to enter personal credentials.