Delhi’s commuters will have to wait a bit longer for a prepaid, multiuse transit card because of bureaucratic and administrative delays, an official close to the project tells PaymentsSource.
Over the past year, the state government of Delhi had invited bids from technology vendors for a smart card usable across the city’s subway network and the state-owned fleet of transport buses. Cubic Transportation System, which manages London’s popular Oyster Card, reportedly emerged as the lowest bidder for the project, and it seemed as if it would be awarded the contract.
But the bid had to be awarded by the end of November, and the state’s Transport Department has not yet given out a decision, says the official, who works with the Delhi Metro Rail Corp. and has requested anonymity.
Officials from the state’s Transport Department and Cubic did not return PaymentsSource calls by deadline.
The winning bidder would set up and manage the back end of the project. It also would bring together the different systems of Delhi Metro Rail and Delhi Transport, the bus operator. However, the two operators have not yet agreed on the terms of the project, with each operator wanting more for its network, according to the official.
The official says that there are more complications with the project because the bus operator hires many private bus contractors to service routes and networks that it is not able to service with its fleets of buses, he adds.
“Essentially, I think the worry is also about ticketing on buses,” he says, explaining that the bus operator is worried that it would be unable to monitor whether all smart cardholders are swiping or not, especially on the private buses.
What do you think about this? Send us your feedback.
