Delhi Metro: Smart Cards That Recharge Themselves To Be Available From Mid-2019

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is all set to introduce new smart cards in mid-2019 which will automatically recharge themselves when low balance is detected, reports Metro Rail News.

The new smart cards can be linked to a user’s bank account. A DMRC spokesperson stated that these new smart cards of Delhi Metro would be topped up automatically when a metro user taps it on the AFC gate and the balance is found low. The auto-top up will occur when the value of smart card goes below a preset minimum value, say Rs 50 or Rs 100, he added.

Currently DMRC is trying to tie up with agencies that can work as aggregators who will tie up with all banks as per the norms of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) so that any person having an account in any bank can avail this auto-top up facility, said the spokesperson.

He added that to avail this auto-top up enabled smart card, one has to only fill up a mandate form and submit it to the aggregator. Currently only ICICI Bank and Indusland Bank have tie-ups with the DMRC which enables their debit and credit cards to double as metro cards as well. With the upcoming facility, users of other banks will also be able to use the auto-top up facility.

At present, 70 per cent of the metro users use a smart card. A Delhi Metro smart card can be recharged for a minimum amount of Rs 200 and a maximum amount of Rs 2,000.