December 5, 2023: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has plans to replace Closed Loop Delhi Metro Smart Cards with Open Loop National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) in a phased manner, minister of state in the Housing Ministry Kaushal Kishore Told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply on December 4. The move by the DMRC is aimed at providing a single card that will be usable for all local travel needs across the country.
“The DMRC has informed that there is no delay or challenges faced by them in introducing the NCMC on account of the RBI guidelines,” the minister said, adding that other metro rail systems were also progressively shifting to the NCMC from the Closed Loop Card system.
For the uninitiated, the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) was launched in India with the tagline of ‘One Nation One Card’ on March 4, 2019. A committee on Deepening Digital Payments had recommended that all new metro and transit payments should be made interoperable through the NCMC.
Benefits of National Common Mobility cards
NCMC cards have two instruments on them – a regular debit card which can be used at an ATM, and a local wallet (stored value account), which can be used for contactless payments, without the need to go back to the server or additional authentication.
“This is aimed at low-value payments for various segments e.g. transit, smart cities, toll, parking and other low-value merchant payments, in addition to the normal day-to-day retail payments. The vision behind the introduction of this card is to have interoperability, based on open standards,” the government had said earlier.
Here are some of the main benefits offered by the card:
Customer-friendly: Customers may use the same card for metro and bus travel across the country in an NCMC-compliant system.
Convenience: Customers may use their bank-issued NCMC card for fare payment.
Cashless transaction: The NCMC promotes a cashless transaction environment.
Ease of recharge: Users can easily recharge their NCMC online or at designated recharge points, providing a hassle-free way to manage the card.
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An alumna of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Sunita Mishra brings over 16 years of expertise to the fields of legal matters, financial insights, and property market trends. Recognised for her ability to elucidate complex topics, her articles serve as a go-to resource for home buyers navigating intricate subjects. Through her extensive career, she has been associated with esteemed organisations like the Financial Express, Hindustan Times, Network18, All India Radio, and Business Standard.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Sunita holds an MA degree in Sanskrit, with a specialisation in Indian Philosophy, from Delhi University. Outside of her work schedule, she likes to unwind by practising Yoga, and pursues her passion for travel.
sunita.mishra@proptiger.com
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