Commuters face difficulty with their WhatsApp generated QR ticket, have to wait in line to get the issue resolved.
Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) recently introduced WhatsApp Quick Response (QR) ticketing system for commuter’s comfort and convenience while travelling in Bengaluru. However commuters face problem while using the WhatsApp QR system while entering the metro station, when the passengers place the QR code onto the sensors of the entry gate, it fails to recognize the QR Code tickets from WhatsApp.
Yashwant Kumar who is currently studying says that he does not use metro often, so whenever he travels through metro, he buys a token or get a QR ticket from the WhatsApp ticketing system. He said,”
“Most of the times the WhatsApp tickets work but this is the second time I’m facing the same issue with it. The gates are unable to recognize the QR ticket that I brought through WhatsApp.” He has to go back to the ticket corner and ask them to help him out andlast time they cancelled his ticket and provided him a token.
Yashvanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) said, “If any person is unable to pass the gate and if the QR code is not recognized by the system, there might be some issue in the person’s mobile application or in the phone’s server.”
“We do not get major complaints regarding WhatsApp QR codes. On a daily basis, 20,000 to 25,000 tickets are bought using WhatsApp. We have upgraded our server in the gates of the metro station that can easily identify the QR codes generated through WhatsApp.,” he added.
BMRCL introduced the WhatsApp ticketing system in November, 2022. A commuter can buy tickets, recharge their smart cards, know the train timings and can locate the nearest metro station as well.
A commuter travelling from Kengeri metro station to Majestic metro station said, “I wanted to catch the previous metro train but missed it because of ticket issue. I bought the ticket through WhatsApp but it was not working at the gate. A person from customer care said that it is the server issue and a few minutes later, they resolved my problem and my QR ticket worked.”
A staff from customer care counter at Kengeri metro station said, “People come to us to complain about their WhatsApp QR code. Sometimes the servers of the sensors in entry gates are down due to which the QR tickets are not recognized by the system. We get these complains on regular basis. We try to help the commuters in resolving the issue.”
She also said that sometimes the commuters do not place the QR tickets in front of the sensor properly therefore the entry gates do not open.
Amrit Singh, an application developer, said, “Applications like WhatsApp are only able to generate the QR codes if the application is updated. If the application is updated and the QR codes are generated, there is no issue in the application’s server. It might be the issue in the system’s server that is installed in the metro gates.”
