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Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will introduce Open Loop National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) in a phased manner, which allows metro and bus travellers to use the same card across the country, the Parliament was informed on Monday.
The NCMC will replace the current Closed Loop Delhi Metro Smart Cards. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, Minister of State in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Kausal Kishore said that the NCMC cards are customer-friendly, convenient and allow cashless transactions. "Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has plans to replace Closed Loop Delhi Metro Smart Cards with Open Loop National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) in a phased manner," he said. By using NCMC, "the customer may use the same card for Metro and bus travel across the country in an NCMC-compliant system and customers may use their bank-issued NCMC card for fare payment. The NCMC card is a prepaid, secure, and standard card issued by banks. It's based on the dual interface EMV+ standard. The NCMC card is linked to the Paytm Payments Bank wallet. It can be used for travel, in-store payments, online shopping, and more. The NCMC open loop card is accepted at all retail POS devices. Closed loop cards can only be accepted within their operating environments. The DMRC began converting all of the fare gates to accept NCMC cards in October 2021. NCMC also promotes a cashless transaction environment, the minister said, adding that users can easily recharge their NCMC online or at designated recharge points, providing a hassle-free way to manage the card. The minister further said that the DMRC has informed them that there is no delay or challenges faced by them in introducing NCMC on account of RBI guidelines. "Further other metro rail systems are also progressively shifting to NCMC from the Closed Loop Card System," the reply mentioned. (ANI)
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