Though delayed by two years, Indian transport operator Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd. has launched a smart transit card for commuters on Ahmedabad’s Bus Rapid Transit System.
The agency made the card available to commuters Jan. 1 in what a spokesperson for the transport operator says was a deliberately soft and silent launch.
The smart card has been in the works since 2010, when the agency began soliciting contract bids (
The agency then began a six-month trial in August 2010 with the Indo-Spanish consortium of Vayam Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and GMV S.A. of Spain as part of a six-year contract, which the operator deemed successful (
The new contactless smart card in now available for a nonrefundable fee of 25 rupees (50 U.S. cents or 40 euro cents). Commuters may recharge their card accounts in denominations of 50 rupees or more, the spokesperson tells PaymentsSource.
The card allows commuters to travel for 100 minutes on one bus after one swipe for the minimum fare. If they travel longer than that, the extra funds are deducted on the swipe they make exiting the bus.
“Readers would also be installed at bus stations where commuters would not be able enter without swiping,” the spokesperson says.
Commuters will pay a fine of 100 rupees if they enter a bus station without swiping the card. Replacement cards cost 25 rupees, he adds.
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