If you’re a citizen of Bengaluru and use the metro regularly, you most probably have a smart card that you use. However, commuters now need to have a minimum balance of Rs 50 on their cards when they enter a station, according to new rules which came into effect on Wednesday evening.
“In order to avoid inconvenience to the metro commuters for topping up the contactless smart card at the destination stations, the minimum balance on the card henceforth has to be a minimum of Rs 50 at the originating station. This has come into effect from the evening of 27th March 2019,” the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), which runs the Namma Metro, said in a press release. It also asked commuters top up their cards online.
The minimum balance was earlier at Rs 8.50. “People were misusing the minimum balance. There was a recurring problem as some people always used to travel with low balance and claim that ‘I don’t have money’ or ‘I don’t have cash or card’ at the destination station. Often there would be altercations between the metro staff and commuters. This would also cause inconvenience to other metro users,” Yashwant Chavan, BMRCL’s chief spokesperson told TNM.
“Daily we would get minimum 22-25 complaints about these at our customer care centres. Now with Rs 50 you can travel without any hassles. Often, we would allow customers to go without paying on humanitarian grounds but this started being a daily affair. Even metro staff often would pay on customer’s behalf,” he added.
The announcement, which caught many commuters unaware, also did not go down well on social media. Commuters wanted to know what would happen to the last Rs 50 on their metro card, and why the minimum balance was so high when a ride to the next station costs only Rs 8.50, with one person even calling it a “daylight robbery”. Many were also annoyed with the metro for not being informed about the change earlier and landed up at the metro station with a smart card balance which was less than Rs 50.
@cpronammametro this is utter nonsense y we citizen to keep balance of min 50 rupees where minimum 1 station to another station charge is 8.5 rupees.
— Naveen (@Naveensnayaka) March 27, 2019
This is nothing but forceful imposition. What's the strategical reason ehind this?? I condemn and oppsoe tis move from @cpronammametro if you need funds it's better to make RS.100 for the cards @CMofKarnataka sir plz look into this and request to give instructions to the concerns
— Deepak Gandhadagudi (@deepakgudi) March 28, 2019
Wait, what logic is this? How do i use the last ₹50 in my metro card?
— Sea Star, The Chowkidar (@echino_derm) March 27, 2019
This move is not acceptable. You already had charged Rs.50 for the smart card and now keeping our Rs.50. This is daylight robbery. I protest and demand immediate withdrawal of this misstep
— Murlidhar (@murlibhat) March 28, 2019