TeCh NeWs Of ThE DaY Delhi Metro Launches Online Facility To Recharge Smart Cards

TeCh NeWs Of ThE DaY

Delhi Metro Launches Online Facility To Recharge Smart Cards

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC), which handles the operations of Deli’s Metro travel services, has brought an end to woes of thousands of daily passengers by coming up with an online portal for the general public which will help them recharge their already availed smart cards through online transactions by using their debit and credit cards.

“With this new facility, commuters will now be able to top up their smart cards using debit or credit cards. However, recharge using net-banking facility is not available yet,” a DMRC official said.

Commuters using the Metro can recharge or top-up their smart cards by visiting www.delhimetrorail.com and www.dmrcsmartcard.com.  ICICI bank has agreed to partner with DMRC to provide online automated fare collection and also integrate is payment mechanisms on the official DMRC website.

As far as formalities are concerned, I think the payment procedure and top-up/recharge process on their website is quite straightforward too. Commuters just need to log on to the DMRC website, type in the amount they wish to recharge and then type out the 11 11 digit Metro card number engraved on the back side of their smart card. They also need to enter their email address. After the user provides the above details, he/she will only have to choose the preferred payment option: debit or credit card.

But this does not end here. After finishing with the online recharge process, commuters will have to validate their particular recharges through the Ticket Reader Cum Add Value Machines, which have been installed at 13 Metro stations, namely Dilshad Garden, Welcome, Shahadara, Seelampur, Shashtri Park, Pragati Maidan, Karkarduma, Nirman Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Barakhamba, RK Asharam, Jhandewalan and Rajendra Place. The Ticket Reader is a machine which can provide information about a smart card, including total value available, last five entry and exit transactions, etc.

In March this year, DMRC announced it would be launching a mobile app for Delhi Metro, which would provide commuters with fare details, nearest metro stations details etc. and had floated a tender for the same.

Overall, I strongly believe that it is a great move from DMRC’s side and will definitely prove genuinely useful for thousands of people who travel using Delhi metro daily. Additionally, it might be noted that more than 17,000 smart cards are sold from the various metro stations across Delhi-NCR, as per DMRC’s stats. Indians are currently experience a boost of Internet penetration thanks to a number of positive factors and the Internet thrust’ is quite high across the country. DMRC aims to cash in on this growing trend, and I really appreciate them for doing so.