Bengaluru Metro commuters can now travel unlimited with introduction of daily and three-day passes, being issued from this Ugadi, April 2.
Metro commuters are in for a good news as the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) has decided to launch one-day and three-day passes on Udagi in a major policy change. The BMRCL will reportedly also refund unclaimed amounts on online smart cards.
The one-day passes will be priced at Rs. 200, while the three-day passes will be priced at Rs. 400, an official release stated. The passes will allow commuters unlimited travel in Namma Metro for three days from the date of purchase. Commuters will need to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs. 50 for both of the passes.
These passes will be available in form of a returnable smart card, and can be bought by passengers at the station ticket counters. They will have to be returned for a refund of the Rs. 50 security deposit.
The three-day passes, when compared to the daily pass for BMTC’s Vajra buses are costlier when divided by three days. The three-day metro pass costs Rs. 133.33 per day whereas the BMTC’s daily passes for Vajra buses costs Rs. 100, after the price cut last year.
Metro officials were hesitant to introduce the concept of daily or monthly passes in the past, citing that such policy decisions can be taken by the board only after the completion of Phase 2.
By this change in policy, BMRCL officials hope to increase daily ridership as the Namma Metro has recorded an average daily ridership of 2.97 lakh riders for the month of February 2022, far below the pre-COVID levels when officials counted 4.5 lakh riders every day.
Commuters can also get refunds on the recharge of smart cards if they are unable to update the balance amount on their smart cards within 15 days. The recharges done online through the website or the mobile apps can be updated by tapping at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates after one hour, and within seven days from the time of recharge.
Updates can also be done at Card Top-up Terminals any time within 15 days from the time of recharge. Refunds will be done with a deduction of cancellation fee of 2.5% of the recharge amount, through the same channel commuters have used for top-ups.
