[TusharK]

The Prime Minister has launched a new payment card called the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that can be used to pay transport charges anywhere in the country.



The NCMC is a bank-issued debit, credit or prepaid card which can be used to make payments for all transport services like toll, parking, bus, metro, suburban railway among others. User will also be able to buy monthly passes and season tickets using this card. It can be used to make payments at retail facilities as well.

The NCMC is a RuPay card, which can also be used to withdraw cash. Having merged the RuPay card with the mobility card, the government expects to address issues such as revenue leakages, cash handling and reconciliation that are often attributed to cash payments.

Source: NDTV

[Thilak29]

I fail to understand why such fanfare for this card. The goal is very ambitious but we still have a primitive ticketing system in much public transport system.
If this card is an alter ego of the usual debit card, then isn't it easier and effective to put machines in place which can read contactless debit cards.

London metro has such a system, it even reads NFC enables phones with stored cards.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by TusharK

The Prime Minister has launched a new payment card called the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that can be used to pay transport charges anywhere in the country.

The NCMC is a bank-issued debit, credit or prepaid card which can be used to make payments for all transport services like toll, parking, bus, metro, suburban railway among others. User will also be able to buy monthly passes and season tickets using this card. It can be used to make payments at retail facilities as well.

The NCMC is a RuPay card, which can also be used to withdraw cash. Having merged the RuPay card with the mobility card, the government expects to address issues such as revenue leakages, cash handling and reconciliation that are often attributed to cash payments.

Let's hope this is not the end of this scheme. Launching card is only one step, quite small one at that. The supporting infrastructure also needs to come up. We are still grappling with the less-than-optimum implementation of Fastag. Forget all tolls, even in NHAI's tolls it seldom works on all lanes. The experience varies widely across the country. It looks good on paper but the ground reality will be vastly different.

[libranof1987]

Having been a beneficiary of the convenience offered by such a system, I hope this becomes a reality soon enough. For starters, there's the very established and comprehensive public transport network in Mumbai/Delhi/Bangalore they can work with.

I'm not quite sure what retail services they intend to bring under this; for now, just concentrate on transportation services and get that working at a 100% efficiency.

Originally Posted by Thilak29

The goal is very ambitious but we still have a primitive ticketing system in much public transport system.

True; but we've got to start somewhere and soon. Equip ticketing agents, at least in the buses and Metro, with scanners and adoption becomes even easier. Delhi Metro, and even Mumbai buses, I believe already have these commuter cards.

They just need to have a focussed approach and ramp up quickly. Okay, "just" is an interesting keyword.

[MSC]

A query.
If this is sort of prepaid card, without it's own storage capacity, won't this need a constant and strong internet support. In metros cities it might work well. But will it work properly in tier 3 & 4 cities? As of public transport, will it work properly in case just I board a bus some where in Spiti? And the complete process won't be complete without a massive drive to install card readers and scanners every where.
As mentioned earlier, basic infrastructure development is needed at ground level. Even toll booths have a sketchy & lousy connections which sometimes take 15-20 minutes for a simple fastag toll deductions. The intention of Govt might be good but needs a lot of homework to be done first.

[procrastinator]

The tagline one nation one card is catchy.
Dear Government, Have you heard of One Nation One Road Tax.
Can you work on something which would rather change people lives?

If you implement One Road Tax, We would pay it using this, one card.
I hope to get this card sooner than later.

[binand]

Couple of weeks back, I had some work in the Hudson Circle area and had taken the metro there (from Indira Nagar). It was soon after the BMRCL announcement that they will be issuing NCMC cards at all stations, so I figured I should convert my regular metro card to one of these. Enquired at the main ticketing window, the lady there asked me to enter the station and talk to the customer service desk inside. So I swiped my older metro card and went up to the mezzanine floor to check out the process. Briefly:

1. There is a QR code pasted at the CS desk, scanning which you will be taken to https://nammametro.agsindia.com. Use the "First Time User" option to register for an account. You will get a registration number by SMS if everything is done correctly.

2. Give the registration number and Rs. 100 to the CS person. They will link a card to your account and hand the package (which contains the card + welcome letter + PIN mailer) over to you. Rs. 50 is the cost of the card and the remaining Rs. 50 will appear as initial balance on it.

After this I boarded the train, and while inside refreshed the above portal; I could see that the card was correctly linked to my account. Used this time to load the card with some more money (Rs. 500) via the payment gateway > UPI flow available at the portal.

Now came the confusing part. The portal has three accounts/balances showing rupee amounts. I was trying to figure out how it all works, during which I did a test "Online to Offline" transfer of Rs. 100 that ended up in the Intermediate account.



So the way I figured it works this:

• Travel cost is deducted from the Offline balance.
• Recharges are added to the Online balance.
• You are expected to move money from the Online account to the Offline account.
• To do this, you:

1. first (using the portal) transfer money to the Intermediate account, and then
2. second (using a touchscreen device at the stations) transfer it from the Intermediate account to the Offline account.

This way, if you lose the card you lose only the Offline balance - you can buy a new card and link it to the same Online account.

The touchscreen devices I noticed at the mezzanine floor customer service desks at all the stations I've looked for them so far. Not outside before security. You need to hold the card against an area marked on the device, tap a button on the screen and wait till it finishes its job (about 10-15 seconds in total).

My BHIM UPI under Bill Pay has an option "NCMC Recharge". Unfortunately it doesn't work just yet - I have reported a bug but no action so far. Once they fix it recharging should be much quicker.



I was in Chennai over the weekend and took a metro ride there (circular: Thousand Lights > Alandur > Central via green line > back to Thousand Lights, coming out of the station at each changeover point). The usual location on the barrier where we scan the card in Bangalore did not work - red light and noise. The guard walked over to help me; he showed me a different spot (marked with the NCMC logo) where I'm supposed to scan it. The barrier opened and I was in.

The NPCI website tells us where all the card can be used:

https://www.npci.org.in/what-we-do/r...s/live-members

My understanding is that I can use this card at all Open Loop transit systems. Pity Kochi Metro is not one of them. The one I'm the keenest to try on is one of the bus systems (BEST, maybe).

Here is how the card looks.

[TwinAlco]

I am using the Paytm Transit card as an NCMC add on. It was by far the smoothest card to use across Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai Metros. It worked in Kadamba (Goa) and BEST buses seamlessly. Adding balance to the card was also straightforward with an easy UI in the app.

Too bad the card will be useless after the ban on Paytm. The future of the NCMC project also is in jeopardy due to this shoddy implementation.