Not a lot of takers for CMRL’s Singara Chennai card

CHENNAI: The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), also called the ‘Singara Chennai Card’, launched in April 2023 has not become as popular as expected by the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), as only 4.30 lakh cards have been issued in the last 18 months.

The much-anticipated NCMC was launched in all 42 Metro stations and its parking spaces in phase 1 for seamless commuting across all modes of transportation by CMRL and SBI. The CMRL had also enabled online payment methods to recharge NCMC besides accepting cash and card payments.

In the first 3 months after the launch, only 2,400 cards were issued, which surged to 52,000 cards by September. And, by December last year, the CMRL had issued close to 1 lakh cards.

Subsequently, it spiked further in early 2024, where, in just three months, over 1 lakh cards were issued till March, said CMRL official. From April till date, over 2 lakh cards have been issued.

To attract more passengers to use NCMC, the CMRL in October simplified acquiring the card by eliminating the Know Your Customer (KYC) process, and launched NCMC dispensers in August at Metro stations. “The usage of NCMC has spiked only to 20%, while the usage of travel cards (closed loop card) is at 33%. But, NCMC has additional benefits from being accessible at other city Metros. Also, other city NCMCs will also work in Chennai Metro stations,” said a CMRL official.

“Single journey tickets have more demand than NCMC/travel cards. So, over time, we’ll focus on encouraging passengers to opt for NCMC, which is more likely to change from operations of phase II.”

Further, CMRL will also stop issuing the travel card to new customers and eventually withdraw the card to promote NCMC. “If the last mile connectivity is strengthened and the fare is revised, CMRL will see a spike in ridership,” noted a transit enthusiast.