Delhi Metro plans to give fare concession to students and senior citizens: In a recent development towards regulating its fares for students and senior citizens, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has planned a technological solution which would allow it to provide fare concession. A DMRC spokesperson told Financial Express Online that this technological solution has been planned by changing the system of biometric smart cards, so that fare concession on Delhi Metro tickets can be provided to students and senior citizens.
In this regard, Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister recently stated that DMRC has planned for a technology-based solution in order to provide concession in fares to Delhi Metro commuters such as students as well as senior citizens. According to the Minister, the quantum of the fare concession has to be decided by the fare fixation committee (FFC). This committee is constituted by the Central government with an aim to revise the Delhi Metro fare.
Even though DMRC has planned on the technological intervention to regular fare concession, it will take some time for the physical installation of the system into the ticketing process. According to DMRC, when the solution will be implemented, the Delhi Metro travel smart card will not remain a transferable one. The Delhi Metro smart card will then be linked with the individual user, which will likely be done through a biometric system. DMRC will be ready to begin the work on the technological solution as soon as the final decision will be taken. The decision for this system will have to go through the FFC, as a first step.
After a steep hike in Delhi Metro fares since the year 2017, Hardeep Singh Puri had asked DMRC, in the year 2018, for introducing a technology-based solution in order to ensure fare concessions for students and senior citizens. DMRC will install a new biometric-based ticketing system, in order to support the biometric-based smart cards. These will be integrated with the existing automatic fare collection gates at stations.
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DMRC also plans to install devices which will not just have biometric readers but also have smart card readers. These devices will also act as registration devices where the passenger’s information as well as biometric details will further be scanned and registered. The devices will have biometric scanners for capturing the commuter’s biometric information. These new biometric AFC gate system will help in developing multiple benefits for both the passengers as well as for the system, in terms of passenger identification, profiling and concession.