The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) will roll out digital payment options for passengers to buy tickets, officials said Monday. Internal tests for seamless transactions are currently underway, and once they are successful, some routes will be selected for on-road tests for the service. Once the on-road tests are successful, all 18,500 buses will be integrated into the project and a sticker indicating digital payments available will be displayed on the doors of the buses. Officials said that implementing a system for digital transactions for PMPML is more complicated than setting up such a system at local vendors. The payments must settle in 30 to 40 seconds and the payment confirmation should reach the passenger, PMPML and the bank. Starting the on-route tests based on the technical progress of the project could take around three days to a week. The digital payments service will come as a relief to passengers who are in a constant need for small change. Sumera Khanum, a regular PMPML passenger, said that arranging small change for bus tickets every day is a big hassle for her. “I have to pay Rs 5 and Rs 10 for tickets going to work and then the same amounts returning home. Since PMPML conductors don't accept digital payments, I have to keep cash, preferably change, every day. It's a big headache. Good to know that PMPML is finally catching up,” she said. Priti, another commuter, said that she had often had fights with conductors over change. “Sometimes they take money and say that they will return the change later, but pretend to forget it given the crowd. Rs 5 is a small amount, but for an everyday passenger it makes a difference,” she said.
