Commuters in the National Capital Region of New Delhi in India no longer will have to wait in queues for their subway tickets when the city’s Metro operator completes its rollout of a smart card-based system for handling fares.
The National Capital Region is the metropolitan region of the country’s capital city and urban areas in the three neighboring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Delhi Metro Rail Corp. supports the region’s subway-network operation that consists of six lines and 135 stations.
“We have installed automatic vending machines at 25 of these stations,” a spokesperson for the operator tells PaymentsSource. “Commuters will have to buy and use smart cards to purchase Metro tickets at these machines.” The agency did not give a timeframe for when it expects to complete the rollout of the smart card system.
Consumers may purchase the chip card at the stations for 115 rupees (US$2.50 or 1.8 euros), of which 65 rupees will be held back as a security deposit, he says.
The card is valid for six months after the purchase, and cardholders may top up the card-account balance in multiples of 50 rupees up to a maximum limit of 1,000 rupees, the spokesperson adds. Commuters can return the card after six months to reclaim the deposit, and they will have to buy a new card.
To use the card, the commuter places it on the ticket vending machine reader, selects the start and destination stations, and punches print to get tickets,” the spokesperson says.
Denvas Services Pvt. Ltd. of India is providing the kiosks for the transit initiative. It also is providing the corporation with payment kiosks that accept credit, debit and dual-function cards for payment of electricity and water bills, insurance premiums and other bills (
