Over 10,000 persons of Chennai Metro Rail bought the tickets on WhatsApp in one week after the launch of this service.
Following Bengaluru’s Namma Metro, Chennai Metro Rail Ltd. (CMRL) also introduced the WhatsApp e-ticket last week. Commuters can generate a ticket if they send a message on WhatsApp to 8300086000 and make a payment.
According to officials of CMRL, nearly 2.5 lakh commuters take the system and for a start, 1,500 WhatsApp e-tickets are sold on an average every day. “This is just a beginning and we expect that more people will opt for this service. As of now, we see that many one-time travellers like those taking trains and buses are quickly buying a WhatsApp ticket and taking the train,” an official said.
Sources said there were some issues regarding payment that some commuters face currently and efforts were on sort this out. “We are planning to set up a kiosk in stations in both phase I and phase I extension project across 54 km to help people quickly generate these tickets in case they need help,” he said.
Most travellers use the travel card and QR code tickets on which 20% discount is offered on fare. Only a small section of users buy tokens now.
