Last April, taking the first step towards implementing the common ticketing system, Chennai Metro Rail rolled out the National Common Mobility Card. It was meant to be used not only for commuting in Metro Rail and buses but also for shopping. A year on, the number of people using the card has substantially gone up. But a few issues still remain. From 1,964 people in May last year, the number of people using the card went up to 11.8 lakh people in February this year. But the most purchased card still continues to be the smart card and nearly 38 lakh people used it for travelling last month.
No solution yet
Some of the commuters say the Metro Rail workers have persuaded them to buy the National Common Mobility Card. They are unhappy that a few issues have not been fixed yet. Ravi Meenakshisundaram, who often commutes in Metro Rail, says it is a big disadvantage that he cannot make UPI payment to recharge the card. “When everyone is resorting to digital payments, how can they implement a card and not accept a UPI payment? I cannot scramble to pay cash. Also, I frequently had problems while trying to use the card to enter and exit. The ticketing gate would not accept the card and each time I had wait for the staff to help me out. This took a lot of time during each ride,” he says. As a result, he has stopped using the National Common Mobility Card and went back to using the smart card.
Also, purchasing this card and using it to pay for parking takes longer than a smart card at times. “It took nearly 10 minutes to buy the National Common Mobility Card since I had to register and provide my Aadhaar details. I was not comfortable giving my ID proof and I almost missed my train, waiting to complete this process. They should not have this procedure,” another commuter says.
Also, every time they recharge the card online, commuters must come to the station to synchronize and update the balance; or the top-up won’t reflect in the card. This problem too has irked commuters.
T. Karthikeyan, a frequent traveller and working professional residing in the city, says the smart card is still the most convenient ticket option as he can quickly swipe and go to board the train. “The authorities should do away with the need to register for buying the National Common Mobility Card as this could consume time for commuters when they are in a hurry to take the train,” he adds.
Problems in parking lot
Sources say that after the card was launched, they were asked to promote it, but it was difficult initially because of some shortcomings. “In the parking lot, the card sometimes shows erroneous data, as if the passenger had parked the vehicle a day or two in advance. If it occurs for one vehicle, the other passengers are held up,” a source said.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), most of the issues, which had persisted since the launch, have been resolved. They say the other issues flagged by passengers, like non-acceptance of UPI payments and the need to provide ID proof and register, will soon be addressed.
“We have held discussions with the National Payments Corporation of India on the UPI payments and steps are being taken to integrate this facility with the system. By April 15, commuters will be able to pay by UPI too to get their National Common Mobility Cards,” an official says. Similarly, CMRL plans to do away with the requirement of ID proof for buying the card in a couple of months, he adds.
The official says that only a small number of commuters finds it difficult to use the card in the parking lot. “The majority of the issues have been sorted out. The number of complaints we receive is less than 10%. This too shall be fixed at the earliest,” he adds.
CUMTA calls for bids
Meanwhile, Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has called for bids to select a service provider for launching the common ticketing system across all public transport facilities. A senior official of CUMTA says a bid has been called to develop and operate a mobile application for multi-modal journey planner and a QR-based unified ticketing system for the Chennai Metropolitan Area. The bids can be submitted till April 17.
The unified ticketing card of the CUMTA, called the Journey Planner-cum-Integrated Ticketing in the Chennai Metropolitan Area, will provide commuters with the option of the fastest and most economical mode of reaching the last-mile destination.
A total of nearly 46.25 lakh commuters use different modes of public transport with different fares. However, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Southern Railway and Metro Rail have independent ticketing systems and the unified ticketing would help in integrating all the different ticketing systems, though not the fares.
(With inputs from R. Srikanth)
