Days before the commercial launch of its services, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Friday unveiled the Travel Card that would enable the traveller to carry out multiple journeys. The BMRCL also announced a tie-up with Airtel, under which the passengers can top-up their travel cards at any franchisee outlets of the mobile operator.
Travel Card resembles a credit or debit card that has an electronic chip embedded inside. It is used for performing multiple journeys and it can be loaded with various types of tickets. The passenger will have to tap the card at the gate before entering the train and also tap the card at the destination. As per the distance travelled, the cost of the travel will be deducted from the card.
Karnataka chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda unveiled the travel card and also purchased the first card, which is priced Rs 100, of which Rs 50 would be non-refundable.
The BMRCL also announced a toll-free number, 1800 425 12345 for the benefit of passengers. After purchasing, the commuter can load Varshik or Sanchar or both tickets in the same card to the required value or trips. Stored Value tickets named as Varshik has money value stored in it and it gets reduced to the extent journey is performed. It is valid for one year from the date of last Add Value. Apart from metro stations, adding value to Varshik will be possible through State Bank of India ATMs, Net banking, mobile banking, BMRCL website and through SMS (short messaging service) from Airtel retail outlets.
A Trip Ticket named as Sanchar has a fixed number of trips stored into it. One trip is a journey with an ‘Entry’ followed by an Exit from a station. These trip tickets are also available at a discount of 5-10 per cent over Varshik rates.
The purchaser of the Namma Metro Travel Card can also visit the website www.bmrc.co.in to buy the card and it will be delivered to his address through the speed post.
P V V Srinivasa Rao, chief operating officer, Karnataka, Bharti Airtel said commuters of Namma Metro can purchase top-ups for their Travel Card at any of their 30,000 retail outlets in Bangalore city. “Going forward we will enable Airtel mobile customers to top-up their Travel Cards just by sending an SMS. This is an opportunity for us to enhance the visibility of our brand. We are thinking of unveiling many more co-branding services with BMRCL,” he said.
