Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC)?s More Delhi card will be accepted as a mode of payment in DTC buses in the next six months. The step is a move towards integrating various modes of transport in the city in order to facilitate seamless travel in the capital. Cluster buses will also be included in the scheme.
The Delhi Transport Corporation is expected to issue a request for proposal in the next two weeks for procuring electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) for its buses, which will accept the More Delhi card.
?We will be issuing a request for proposal in 15 days for purchasing ETMs in which you can swipe the More Delhi card of DMRC. Our vendor will carry out back-end integration. The money will be divided between DMRC and DTC based on the tariff of each mode of transport. We have already carried out a pre-bid exercise and have got a good response,? DTC chairman-cum-managing director Debashree Mukherjee said.
Work for the project is likely to be awarded in the next two months. ?We will start rolling out the project in a phased manner in the next six months. We will begin with a pilot project in two depots and extend it to all DTC buses once the system is streamlined,? Mukherjee said.
DMRC will make changes to its smart card so that it can be used on DTC buses. Once the DTC finalises its vendor, Metro will provide them with technical assistance.
?We will help them understand the functioning of the card,? a DMRC spokesperson said.
The common mobility card would initially be recharged at DMRC?s automated fare recharge booths inside Metro stations and DTC pass counters. ?But eventually, a system will be put in place that will allow people to recharge the cards in other utility stores based on their bar codes,? an official said.
The card will also be accepted in the cluster buses operated by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).
?Once implemented, the use of ETMs will bring down the operational costs of DTC buses by plugging revenue leaks,? a DTC official said.
The machines will be smart card-enabled devices with inbuilt GPRS modules.
The move comes almost two years after DMRC launched the common mobility card for seamless travel on Metro trains and on certain DMRC-run feeder buses.
The Transport department is working out the modalities after the proposal received Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung?s nod.
Eventually, the plan is to ensure that people are able to use any mode of transport in Delhi, including auto-rickshaws and taxis, and pay using the smart card.
In December 2011, the Ministry of Urban Development had announced the launch of a nationwide interoperable transport card. As a first step, the More Delhi card was introduced by the Delhi Metro in August 2012.
