Chennai Metro to launch National Common Mobility Card in February 2022

Chennai, India (Urban Transport News):  The Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is all set to launch Smart Card to metro commuters in next month which will be compitable to National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) of Government of India. The card will enable Chennai metro commuters to pay for multiple modes of transport after launching of this ticketing service.

According to CMRL officials, the installation of card readers at metro stations have been started and trial will be commenced soon. “We need around two weeks to install the readers and conduct a trial. NCMCs will be an open-loop card compared with the closed-loop smartcard we have right now,” said an official. This card will enable seamless travel by metro rail, MTC and other transport systems besides retail shopping and purchasing and banking transactions.

The NCMC-compliant RuPay debit card will work similar to the existing contactless metro rail smartcards. Nonetheless, unlike the smartcards, which can be used only for metro rides and for parking vehicles in stations, the NCMC can also be used in other modes of transport like MTC and suburban trains when those transit systems launch the service. These cards could also be used in metro rail facilities in other cities in the country. 

The other difference between existing Chennai metro smartcards and NCMC is that the ticket amount is stored in the former in a pre-paid format and deducted at the gates while using the latter would involve a bank transaction. It will be a transaction between the card issuing bank and the acquirer bank that will partner with CMRL to enable fare collection.

“NCMC and QR-code tickets will be given priority over the existing smartcard and the tokens. We are also working to launch account-based ticketing where passengers can use their credit or debit card directly to tap on the AFC gates and walk in,” said a metro rail official.