Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)’s More Delhi card will be accepted as a mode of payment in DTC buses in the next six months. The step is a move towards integrating various modes of transport in the city in order to facilitate seamless travel in the capital. Cluster buses will also be included in the scheme.
The Delhi Transport Corporation is expected to issue a request for proposal in the next two weeks for procuring electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) for its buses, which will accept the More Delhi card.
DTC chairman-cum-managing director Debashree Mukherjee notified that they will be issuing a request for proposal in 15 days for purchasing ETMs in which people can swipe the More Delhi card of DMRC. Mukherjee further mentioned that they have already carried out a pre-bid exercise and have got a good response.
Mukherjee announced that work for the project is likely to be awarded in the next two months. The project will start rolling out in a phased manner in the next six months and will begin with a pilot project in two depots and extend it to all DTC buses once the system is streamlined.
DMRC will make changes to its smart card so that it can be used on DTC buses. Once the DTC finalizes its vendor, Metro will provide them with technical assistance.
The common mobility card would initially be recharged at DMRC’s automated fare recharge booths inside Metro stations and DTC pass counters. “But eventually, a system will be put in place that will allow people to recharge the cards in other utility stores based on their bar codes.
The card will also be accepted in the cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).
The move comes almost two years after DMRC launched the common mobility card for seamless travel on Metro trains and on certain DMRC-run feeder buses.
The Transport department is working out the modalities after the proposal received Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung’s approval.
Eventually, the plan is to ensure that people are able to use any mode of transport in Delhi, including auto-rickshaws and taxis, and pay using the smart card.
In December 2011, the Ministry of Urban Development had announced the launch of a nationwide inter operable transport card. As a first step, the More Delhi card was introduced by the Delhi Metro in August 2012.
By Baishakhi Dutta
