More than half of all Delhi Metro riders now use the agency’s prepaid contactless transit smart card, a spokesperson for the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. tells PaymentsSource.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 54% of Delhi Metro commuters on average opted each day to use the cards, the spokesperson says.
The average share of smart card users as a percentage of total bookings has consistently gone up, to 31% in 2006, 40% in 2007, 45% in 2008 and 50% in 2009, he says.
The transit agency launched the card program in 2006. Mumbai-based Siepmann Card Systems Pvt. Ltd. provides the smart cards.
The stored-value Delhi Metro card is available at all transit stations with an initial deposit of 50 rupees (US$1.07 or 88 euro cents). Cardholders may reload the card in multiples of 50 rupees, up to 800 rupees.
Delhi Metro each day accommodates 500,000 passengers over five lines on which it operates 100 trains, the spokesperson says.
