The increase of the deposit on metro cards upsets commuters.
By: Saloni Arora
Bengaluru, April 9, 2019
Many regular commuters have expressed anger on the recent move by The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) A protest was held before the Malleswaram Metro Station to withdraw the new rule of changing the minimum balance on the contactless smart card.
The BMRCL, in an unexpected move, changed the minimum balance on the metro card and fixed it at Rs. 50 at the originating stations. This rule came into effect on March 27, 2019. Officials believe the move was necessary in order to end long queues.
Pritha M., a regular commuter who travels every day from Jayanagar to M.G. Road says, “What will I do with the leftover balance after Rs. 50? Will I get it back? The sudden move is just a waste of commuter’s hard-earned money”.
Yeshavanth Chavan, BMRCL chief public relations officer in a press release said, “In order to avoid inconvenience to the metro commuters for topping up the contactless smart card at the destination stations, the minimum balance on the card henceforth has to be Rs 50 at the originating stations”.
Previously, Rs. 8.50 was the minimum card balance that had to be maintained, which is the cost of travel between two stations.
“The new rule came up to end the long queues at the exit gates as a lot of passengers used to travel with low balance”, informed public relation officer at the Cubbon Park metro station.
Murlidhar, a regular commuter in a Twitter post said, “This move is not acceptable. You already had charged Rs. 50 for the smart card and now keeping our Rs. 50 -this is daylight robbery. I protest and demand an immediate withdrawal of this misstep.”
“This is nothing but a forceful imposition. What is the strategical reason behind this? I condemn and oppose this move from @cpronammametro if you need funds it’s better to make Rs. 100 for the cards,” expressed Deepak Gandhadagudi, in a twitter post.
