A recent move by the Chennai Metro to direct passengers wishing to pay for tickets in cash to ticket vending machines (TVMs) has irked many. Those heading to the counter should necessarily pay using either their debit or credit card.
Hari Madhavan, a resident of Nanganallur, said, “This is an absurd rule. The funny part is, many of their TVMs don’t even work. If there are 2-3 in each station, certainly one won’t work. Even if they function, they don’t accept many denominations of new currency notes that were introduced a few years ago. When they have so many flaws in their system itself, how can they impose such a ridiculous rule?”
Passengers said that it is unfair to have such a rule because they have to stand in queue to buy tickets from TVMs even if the counter is empty. Sri Lakshmi M., another passenger, said, “Only now more people are beginning to travel by Chennai Metro. But if they continue to have such rules, the ones travelling will also stop.”
Sources in Chennai Metro said that they receive several complaints every day from passengers but are helpless as they have been instructed to implement this rule. According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited, they have brought in this rule only to save time as passengers buying tickets through TVMs will consume less time. “We have been trying to fix the issues in TVMs as well,” an official added.
