Mumbai: Women and senior citizens travelling on Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses will have to carry an NCMC card to avail government fare concessions from September 1, Monday. The new system will be implemented from tomorrow, with concessional tickets for eligible passengers being issued only through the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC).
1.11 Crore Passengers Registered
MSRTC said it has so far registered around 1.11 crore passengers for NCMC cards. The corporation has appointed E-Bix Technologies Ltd for the registration and distribution process. At present, the exercise is focused on women and senior citizens, while other categories eligible for government travel concessions will be covered later.
Under the new system, women passengers and senior citizens aged between 65 and 75 years will be required to use the NCMC card while travelling on ST buses to claim concessional fares. Passengers have also been asked to keep their cards topped up with the required amount before undertaking their journey. MSRTC has already circulated a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all its depots for implementation.
SOP Issued To Depots
However, the corporation has given temporary relief to 'Amrit' senior citizens aged above 75 years. Officials said mandatory implementation has been deferred for this category due to difficulties faced during registration, particularly biometric authentication problems such as fingerprints not being captured properly.
The move is part of MSRTC's effort to digitise the process of issuing concessional tickets and streamline the verification of eligible passengers. The corporation has appealed to passengers who have not yet completed the registration process to contact their nearest ST depot at the earliest to avoid inconvenience from Monday.
With the new system coming into force tomorrow, passengers dependent on fare concessions have been advised not to wait until the last moment and ensure that their NCMC cards are registered, issued and topped up before travel.
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