Soon passengers from Tamil Nadu can travel in an auto rickshaw or a bus in Rajasthan or any part of the country with the help of a cash card as the urban development ministry is all set to launch national common mobility card (NCMC), which will act as a cashless means of travel through a city or across the country as well.
To promote the NCMC scheme, officials of urban development held discussions with state officials of various departments at MTC headquarters in Chennai on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, in which officials from transport, railways, corporation and metro rail participated, S.K. Lohia, joint secretary (urban development ministry), said the card would be a single point of transaction, valid in state buses, metro and even for parking. “This is to provide seamless connectivity across different modes in a city or within state by integrating all modes of transport.
When we talk of multi-mode integration it is at five levels — institutional, infrastructural, operational level, fare collection and integration of information.”
“We are also working on a master plan to enable the passengers to use the common card across the country in all modes of transport including auto rickshaws,” he said adding, “For this, UTI infrastructure technology and Services Ltd, a finance ministry body, will sign a deal with all operators.
“Jaipur is ahead of other cities and has already signed an agreement with UTIITSL.”
He said the passenger was not concerned about which mode or organisations he was taking whether it was state run buses or railways or metro rail, what he needed was he should be able to move freely from one mode to another mode as seamlessly as possible.
Since the TN government was eager to implement the scheme, a meeting was arranged to sensitize and elicit views of the various stakeholders involved in the process. “We have taken their views and take into consideration and incorporate while implementing the scheme,” he said.
He added that nation public transport helpline was also on cards, which will enable the passengers to complain against any modes of transport across the country like ‘100’ to the police department.