New Delhi: DMRC has launched automatic top-up facility for Metro smart cards at the Barakhamba Road station. The scheme, in collaboration with ICICI Bank, will allow commuters to recharge their cards at the entry gates through the automatic fare collection (AFC) facility.
The facility will be available at 54 stations-all stations on Line 5 (Inderlok-Mundka) and Line 6 (Central Secretariat-Badarpur), nine stations on Line 2 (between Chhatarpur and HUDA City Centre), five stations on Line 1 (Dilshad Garden, Shahdara, Welcome, Seelampur and Shastri Park) and eight stations on Line 3 and 4 (Karkardooma, Nirman Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, Pragati Maidan, Barakhamba Road, RK Ashram Marg, Jhandewalan and Rajendra Place.)
“To avail this facility, passengers will have to submit a ‘standing instructions form’ allowing a certain amount to be deducted from their credit or debit cards,” said a senior Delhi Metro Rail Corporation official. Initially, the form can be submitted to ICICI Bank staff deployed at seven Metro stations-Sikandarpur, Huda City Centre, Badarpur, Nehru Place, Govindpuri, Lajpat Nagar and Kailash Colony-between 10am and 5pm throughout the week.
“Once the application is approved by ICICI Bank, the smart card will be registered for the auto top-up facility and linked to the passenger’s bank account,” DMRC spokesperson, Anuj Dayal, said. Once registered, passengers will have to activate their smart cards at one of the 41 designated stations-any station on Line 5 and 6 as well as nine stations on Line 2.
“After registration, the top-up instruction will be executed automatically at the AFC gates and Rs 200 will be added to the card each time the balance goes below Rs 100,” said Dayal. The money will be deducted from the passenger’s bank account. “We hope to make this facility available at all stations within the next six to eight months. All stations in Phase-II will have this facility,” the spokesperson added.