Bengaluru:Around a month after it began closed trials for its smart card, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) seems to be realising that there is a lot more work to be done before it can offer the option of cashless payments. The card was meant to be launched in September, but has hit many snags since then.
This time around, the card will miss its January 2017 launch deadline due to technical issues, including lack of network connectivity for ticketing machines and smooth syncing with bank servers. Instead, BMTC has deciding to run a limited open pilot for commuters but only on a select number of buses.
“We plan to start with two bus schedules in Shivajinagar and Kempegowda Bus Station. Passengers interested in buying and using these cards can do so. Once the system is stable, we will include other schedules,” said Ekroop Caur, Managing Director, BMTC.
Currently, the trials are restricted to BMTC staff.
BMTC has tied up with Axis Bank, which has said that the cards would use an ‘open loop’ configuration to enable even payments other than on BMTC buses. Close to 30 per cent of daily commuters, or around 15 lakh passengers, opt for bus passes, which facilitates seamless travel. Officials are hoping that these pass-holders will shift to smart cards.
The BMTC caters to 52 lakh commuters every day. A smart card, which would eliminate the hassle of carrying small denomination currency, has been on the wish list of passengers for a long time. The need for a smart card intensified after demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes as people have run out of notes of even other denominations.
End-of-day settlement is the roadblock
The attempt to integrate a smart card into the system comes barely a few months after the BMTC migrated to an Intelligent Transport System (ITS). For employees who have barely come to terms with GPS monitoring and data analysis, the smart card has thrown up more issues to deal with.
Chief among these is the end-of-day settlement for all ticketing machines, which will effectively operate as point-of-sale machines. “It is very important that we have connectivity for the machines to communicate with our ITS servers as well as bank servers. Only if we submit end-of-day reports to the bank will money be released to BMTC,” a senior official explained.
