Common mobility card kicks off in Delhi, but few takers on Day One

Vijayant Tomar, a bus conductor with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), began his duty on Friday hoping he wouldn’t have to struggle much with tendering change. Over the past week, he had been trained on using a Metro card on the new Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETM) in all buses in Delhi.

But, six hours into his shift, Tomar said he was yet to get a single commuter who paid through a Metro card for the bus journey. “It is 3:45pm and till now, nobody has paid using a Metro card. Everyone is paying by cash,” he said, pointing at stickers pasted inside the bus which informed people about the common mobility card facility.

The Delhi government, on Friday, started the e-payment of bus fares using Metro cards in all its 5,500 buses. To use this service, passengers have to hand over their Metro smart card to bus conductor who would then flash the card on the screen of the ETMs to deduct the fare.

The common mobility card service, which was launched after a delay of eight years, is being implemented in all buses run by DTC, DIMTS and DMRC. On Friday, the first day of the service, HT took a series of bus rides in central and east Delhi areas and found it only had a handful of takers.

Those who did use their Metro cards to pay on Friday, however, said the service saved them time and hassle.

“This is super easy. I always had problems giving out exact change. The buses are usually so crowded that it used to be a problem to even take out money from my bag. However, it would be helpful if they also start Metro card recharge facility at bus stops as well,” said Riya Garg, who uses the bus and the local train every day to travel from her home in Sonepat to go to Mata Sundari College for Women.

Meanwhile, commuters who had bus passes said it was “illogical” for them to use their Metro cards.

“There is no discount on bus fares if we use Metro cards. On the other hand, we get unlimited rides with our DTC monthly pass that costs Rs 100. So, why should we use the Metro card?” said Pooran Chand, a chartered accountant.

Meanwhile, in some buses the ETMs were not working on the first day.

Conductor Bhanu Pratap, deployed on a bus on route number 740 (Uttam Nagar Terminal to Anand Vihar) said his ETM had stopped working by the afternoon.

“I had three people who paid through their Metro cards today. But, now I cannot accept anymore cards as the machine stopped working. I can only issue tickets manually now,” he said.

Similar problem with the hand-held ticketing devices were faced by buses going towards Old Delhi Railway Station and Okhla Gaon. “I think something is wrong with the software on my machine,” said conductor Ranjeet Kumar, deployed on route 522 (Ambedkar Nagar to Inder Puri).

Passengers suggested that the government should also put ads on the outer body of the buses to make people aware of the service. They also demanded similar displays at all bus stops across Delhi.