The Delhi Metro may be pulling out all the stops to make its ticketing system fully automated in the upcoming phase-III metro stations, but its reliance on “TOM Operators” (ticket operating machine) seems to be only increasing.
From its inception in 2002 till now, the number of TOM operators has increased ten fold.
As per a report submitted by a three-member panel to the Ministry of Labour and Employment in February, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) plan to phase out the semi-automated system of fare collection and replacing it with fully automated ticket vending machines (TVMs) “is far from reality”.
The report, which was constituted to find out if contract labour system needs to be abolished in DMRC, also highlights how the number of TOM operators has increased from about 400 in 2003 to over 21,000 in 2015, which again was brought down to about 3,000 by 2016. Most of them were fired without notice by their contractors.
“The contribution of TVMs was less than 0.5 per cent of the total average sale transaction per day in December 2014 and January 2015 for 82 stations, as compared with the sale transactions by CCCs (Customer Care Centres) and TOMs,” states the report, a copy of which is with The Hindu .
While the use of smart cards during the same period at 139 stations was 68.50 per cent, that of tokens was approximately 38.50 per cent, it added.
The DMRC has maintained that the semi-automated system of fare collection was introduced with the intention of phasing it out with a fully automated system once the commuters are conversant with the process.
“It is a gradual process and people are getting used to it. While currently there are about 178 TVMs, under phase-III we are going to install 506 TVMs,” said a Metro spokesperson.
Good news
Even as the DMRC claims it is going to have fully automated fare collection system in all its upcoming metro stations, the contractual workers who now issue tokens or recharge smart cards need not worry about losing their jobs as they stand a chance of becoming a regular employee of the DMRC.
The committee, which had Rakhal Das Gupta of Northern Frontier Railway Mazdoor Union, Ragini Yechury from Railway Board and Yaspal Tyagi Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) as members, has recommended to the Labour Ministry that deployment of contractual workers for ticket vending services must be abolished.
Complainants Rajni Saxena and J.P. Tiwari who had worked as TOM operators for years in the Delhi Metro, are now hopeful of getting their job back. “I worked for the Delhi Metro for four years and Mr. Tiwari for 12 years. It has been a long battle for us. I hope we will qualify as regular employees once the notification is out by the ministry,” said Mr. Saxena.
