Close to a week after it was reported that that money was not being credited when they recharged their smartcard using the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited website, the BMRCL has asked users not to use any online method for topping up their smartcards. There is no clarity when the glitch will be fixed.
Initially, BMRCL officials had said the issue would be resolved soon as it was a “minor issue”. Other than the BMRCL website, commuters had the option of recharging their smart cards from their respective bank website or apps or the government-run Mobile-One app.
With the online recharge option, commuters did not have to worry about long queues or worry about having the exact change for recharging their smartcards. However, now, the only way to recharge smart cards would be from the kiosks at the metro stations which might inconvenience users at odd hours and add to the queues at the stations.
According to The Times of India, BMRCL has identified 3,092 incidents of failed attempts to recharge via online means until August 3.
This glitch comes even as the BMRCL and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation are expected to introduce an interoperable smart card that would work for both modes of public transport. The new cards will work both at the metro automatic fare collection gates and also the handheld ticketing machines used by BMTC conductors.
In an unpopular move in March, metro officials said commuters now need to have a minimum balance of Rs 50 on their cards from a minimum balance that was earlier at Rs 8.50.
Currently, Bengaluru has two Metro lines intersecting at Majestic. While the Green Line between Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli spans 24.22 km, the Purple Line between Byappanahalli-Mysuru Road runs for 18.08 km. Over the years, the metro has seen a growth in ridership with an average of 4 lakh-plus people using it daily.