Ticket vending machines, which were introduced by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) at major stations on the Purple Line, have been gathering dust for the last year-and-a-half.
The machines were installed to help passengers bypass long queues when buying tickets or recharging their smart cards, but none are working. According to passengers and even officials, they have been defunct since 2016 after demonetisation was announced by the central government and the existing ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes were withdrawn from circulation.
BMRCL has not yet re-calibrated the machines, which were placed in Majestic Intersection and M.G. Road stations. They have boards displaying the message ‘out of service’ in three languages.
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“These machines could not be used by passengers after demonetisation as the Reserve Bank of India introduced new notes of ₹2,000 and ₹200 denominations. The machines were not re-calibrated to accept the new notes,” said a senior BMRCL official.
The BMRCL had introduced the ticket vending machines in December 2012 at M.G. Road, Indiranagar and Baiyappanahalli stations. It had appealed to passengers to use the machines to buy tickets (tokens) and top-up contactless smart cards.
The machines accepted notes of various denominations — ₹10, ₹20,₹50, ₹100, ₹500 and ₹1,000 — but not payment through credit and debit cards.
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Several commuters are unaware of the facility, as it hasn’t been in use.
“Most of the passengers use tokens. During peak hours, in stations like Majestic, people have to spend a considerable amount of time standing in line to buy tokens. What is the use of these machines when passengers cannot use it? The BMRCL should repair these machines and put them to use,” said Vineeth, a regular commuter.
When these machines were introduced, only the Purple Line was operational between M.G. Road and Baiyappanahalli. Queues at ticketing counters were manageable, as daily ridership rarely exceeded a few thousand people.
However, ridership has increased to an average of 3.80 lakh per day after the entire Phase I became operational.
Will try to upgrade software, says BMRCL MD
"The ticket vending machines have to accept cash, credit and debit cards. But the credit card top-up functionality is not available due to certain banking restrictions," said Mahendra Jain, Managing Director, BMRCL.
“The software has to be updated to accept the new ₹10, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 notes. Added to this, the old ₹2 and ₹1 coins have the same weight and dimensions, which poses a problem for the machine,” he added. “Very few commuters use the vending machines. One person had to be physically present to guide them on usage of the machine. Presently, we have a full-time operator to issue tickets till these issues can be resolved. We have reduced the procurement order of the machines after noticing these problems. Will give them another try if the software can be upgraded to decipher the new currency and coins," he said.