Now,‘unreadable’ Delhi Metro cards replaced instantly

Delhi Metro commuters, who face problems of unreadable smart cards because of technical reasons while entering AFC gates, will now be able to get it replaced instantly. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has simplified the process to facilitate the passengers. However, the cards which are to be replaced must be in the right physical condition.

Presently, around 2.20 crore smart cards are in circulation, of which around 600 cards are reported ‘unreadable’ on an average per day. Of these, over 30 per cent of cases are due to physical damage to the card caused by users due to mishandling.

Such unreadable cards which are otherwise in fine condition physically earlier had to be deposited at the station and needed to be reclaimed after five days. As per the new practice, it will now be immediately replaced with a new smart card at the customer care centre of all Metro stations free of cost. The commuter has the option to top it up (recharge) as per his requirement for the journey or may use alternate card or token available with him/her.

According to a DMRC official, earlier, when a passenger faced a similar problem, he/she was required to deposit the card at the station for technical redressal and then required to visit the same station after five days to reclaim that card with balance amount in it. “At times, it required more than five days and multiple visits to the same station to reclaim such cards for some unforeseen reasons, resulting in wastage of time and undue inconvenience to the commuter,” the official said.

“With the new process, one gets an entirely new smart card issued at the station after handing over the physically OK unreadable card. After five days and up to a period of 90 days, the commuter can then tap his/her this new smart card at any of the AVM installed at all the Metro stations and the balance amount of his/her unreadable card will be automatically credited into this new card and the need to visit same station no more exits,” the official informed.

At the moment, about 70 per cent of Metro commuters use smart Cards for their daily journey and a flat 10 per cent discount is provided on each journey.