NMRC to hold special camp to issue smart cards at Noida's NSEZ

The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) will organise a special camp for issuing the smart cards for Noida Special Economic Zone (NSEZ) employees and entrepreneurs this Friday, officials said.

The NSEZ, spread on a 310 acre of land in Sector 81, was set up in 1985 and houses several private companies and start-ups with thousands of people working in the area, they said.

"The camp on May 24 is being organised by the NMRC in collaboration with the State Bank of India (SBI) and officials from both will be deployed at the NSEZ metro station to ensure the smooth issuing of cards to the NSEZ work force and to cater to all their doubts and queries regarding the smart cards," the NMRC said.

 

"The NSEZ employees will have to provide a copy of their Aadhaar number and their mobile number (to receive the OTP). The minimum value of the smart card will be Rs 100 with a minimum top-up amount of Rs 200," it said in a statement.

According to an NMRC official, the Aqua Line witnesses a daily average ridership of 16,000, while the average daily ridership to and from the NSEZ metro station stood at 1,200 passengers.

"Around 40,000 people travel daily from various parts of Noida, Greater Noida and Delhi for work to NSEZ campus," he said.

The Noida-Greater Noida metro, also known as the Aqua Line, runs between Sector 51 station in Noida and the Depot Station in Greater Noida.

There are a total of 21 stations on the corridor -- 15 of them in Noida and six in Greater Noida -- spread over a distance of 29.7-km. Passengers can use QR-coded paper tickets or the smart cards to commute on the Aqua Line.

Having partnered with the SBI, the NMRC offers a chip-enabled smart card that can be doubled up to pay fares on city buses, parkings and be even used as a debit card for shopping at malls, etc.

However, because of these multi-features, passengers of the Aqua Line need to furnish details like Aadhaar number or PAN details and fill a form, taking a lot of time as compared to the procedure in the Delhi Metro.

The NMRC said, in the statement, that it has also proposed to deploy feeder buses and e-rickshaws to boost last mile connectivity and motivate NSEZ employees to travel in the metro.

The corporation said it will organise more such camps in the future, if required, at other metro stations as well to facilitate residential societies, RWAs, educational institutions, government and private offices.