Officials said that 80 to 100 NCMC cards have been sold so far in one of the metro stations.
The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that was launched in Bangalore on March 30, is not being issued in all metro stations across the city causing inconvenience to the commuters.
Certain stations like the JP Nagar metro station, Dr. B. R Ambedkar metro station, and Kengeri Bus terminal still have not started issuing the cards.
Kavita, an official from the Vidhana Soudha metro station said that they are not issuing the mobility card to the commuters yet as they have not received any formal mail from Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) regarding the mobility card.
Another official from the Kengeri Bus Terminal metro station said that they have not started issuing the new cards yet and will start within a week. At the Majestic station the card is being issued only in one counter which is causing a rush. Mallikarjun, an official from the Majestic metro station said that the issuing process is slow due to bank verification.
Kiran a commuter who was registering for a NCMC card in Majestic metro station said that he had seen on social media that it wasa multi-purpose use card but was not sure where else he could use it.
He added, “I went to the JP Nagar metro station to get the card but the officials were not providing the service there so I had to come here at Majestic.” He added that it takes 10 to 15 minutes to make one card causing rush at the counter. It would be convenient for people if these cards are issued in all the metro stations.
Mallikarjun said that the card is mostly for visitors as local people would prefer normal metro cards. MN Srihari, a mobility expert said that the mobility card will be helpful to people that travel frequently, as the card can be used in public transport systems in different cities.
Srihari said that if a digital portal for the card registration is introduced then people can make the card sitting at home and the commotion at the metro station will also ease. Mallikararjun said that people could also apply online on the Namma Metro website to get the NCMC card, but it still requires a metro official to complete the process.
Another commuter, Poorvi said that the mobility card will be really useful as people do not have to carry many cards at all times as it is a multi-purpose card.
Mallikarjun also said that NCMC is a multi-purpose card and can be used in metro station in other cities and other public transport like bus and the BMTC is also going to introduce it. He added that it can be used for shopping just like a debit or credit card.