Now, get new bus pass and avail of up to 30% discount on fares

Gurugram: The Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) has launched its first route-based pass system for commuters, authorities said on Wednesday, adding that the pass will provide commuters up to a 30% annual discount on fares.

These route-specific passes are available at the GMCBL office in its Sector 10A depot.

The facility includes all routes originating in the city and extending to Delhi, Faridabad, Pataudi and Farrukhnagar.

GC Yadav, manager (administration), said that commuters can download forms for the passes from the GMCBL website and submit them at the Sector 10A depot office.

A person’s Aadhaar card number will be mentioned on the pass, and he/she will be required to produce it for verification, along with the pass, when asked by the conductor. Personal details and photographs of commuters, along with route numbers and signatures of issuing authorities will also be present on the card.

According to the officials, the passes comprise several security features meant to check misuse. They have been printed on magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) paper, used for printing bank cheques, by a security press in Faridabad. The words ‘GMCBL’ printed on the MICR paper will be visible only under ultraviolet (UV) light.

Besides, it has microprinting, silver ink print and a pantograph. Scanning or photocopying it will be difficult and any forgery will be easily caught, officials said.

“A commuter will get a 20% discount on fare for a one-month pass, 25% for a three-month pass, 28% for a six-month pass, and 30% for an annual pass,” said a senior GMCBL official, requesting anonymity.

The official also said that the pass-facility will be extremely beneficial for school students, college goers and other daily commuters who travel on the long-distance routes.

The decision to introduce the pass-system was taken at the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) board meeting in December 2020. According to officials, 2,000 passes have been printed for distribution at present. If the response is found to be encouraging, more passes will be made available for people.

“In the near future, physical passes may be replaced with smart cards or digital passes,” said another senior official, requesting anonymity.