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The Ministry of Urban Development has approved a model for a smart mobility card which can be used across mass transit modes such as metro rail and also double up as a credit or debit card for shopping.
Officials said the National Common Mobility Card would be ready for pan-Indian launch and use in 2016. The card will be linked to a user’s bank account and eliminate the need to carry separate cards for retail shopping and commuting in mass transportation systems, the officials added.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu recently approved the ‘EMV Open Loop Card with stored value’ model for the card.
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“The card will have separate stored value for travel and for buying general merchandise. The previous government had planned to bring out a similar card and even called for bids. It didn’t go through because none of the bidders could offer an inter-operable card that could be used seamlessly across all transportation systems,” a ministry spokesperson said Tuesday.
The model approved for India is similar to a card used in the city-state of Singapore.
The model was chosen on the recommendations of a committee set up by Naidu last year to study different practices across the world.
Officials said other models examined by the panel were based on closed loop solutions, which could be used only as travel cards.
A few open loop models did not have provisions for monthly passes or discounted student passes, measures to check ticketless travel and for collection of fines.
The ministry will appoint the National Payment Corporation of India and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing for developing and integrating the support systems for the card.
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