Pay your MTC fare with just a tap of CMRL's Singara Chennai card from November end

CHENNAI: Taking the first step towards offering the convenience of common ticketing and fast and seamless cashless transactions, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation would soon accept payments made through the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), including the Chennai Metro Rail's Singara Chennai card, to issue tickets. It is likely to be rolled out from November end.

The corporation took up a pilot initiative on using NCMC cards on certain bus routes, which was successful, said its managing director Alby John Varghese, adding that it would be launched soon. “We updated certain electronic ticketing machines to accept the NCMC card-based payments on certain routes to conduct a pilot,” he told DT Next.

When asked about the rollout, he said it would be done by the end of this month. Payments using CMRL’s Singara Chennai card would be accepted, he said, adding, “We are also planning to launch MTC’s own NCMC card,” he said.

Enabling NCMC-based payments on MTC would allow passengers to pay the fare with a mere tap. This cashless mode is catching up with Metro Rail commuters, with one in four of its average daily ridership of over three lakh passengers using the NCMC for daily commute.

In February 2024, MTC launched electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) to enable cashless fare payment. Though it achieved 99 per cent of ticket transactions through ETMs, transactions in the cashless mode remained low.

Aiming to improve cashless transactions using the UPI and debit or credit-based payments for issuing tickets, the corporation organised a two-day training session for conductors on UPI and card payments using ETMs at 20 bus depots. Such sessions would be held every Friday and Saturday for a month.

Meanwhile, the corporation has commenced a user satisfaction survey on the service level and quality of its services in the Chennai Metropolitan Area to plan new services and routes to attract more commuters and enhance its ridership.