BEST first in state to introduce common mobility card

NCMC is an inter-operable transport card conceived by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs

India's common transport card finally enters public service in Mumbai from Monday. The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), designed on the lines of London's Oyster card, but at a national level which can be used for railways, Metros, buses, and all public transport modes across the country, will be launched at BEST's Colaba depot on Monday.

BEST buses will be the first public transportation service in the state to roll out NCMC. Speaking on the difference between NCMC card and Chalo card, BEST General Manager Lokesh Chandra told mid-day, "The NCMC card can be used across transport modes. If one uses this, there is no need for a Chalo card, which works only for BEST."

"NCMC is an automatic fare collection system. It will turn smartphones into an inter-operable transport card that commuters can use to pay across transport modes eventually. The card is in use on the Airport Express line of Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Namma and Ahmedabad Metro with around 7.1 lakh online transactions made till November 2021," an official said.

"The card will eventually be in use on Mumbai's local trains and Metros too. On the railways, the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation had been working on implementing it by integrating it with the railways' ticketing system. Commuters will be able to top-up their season tickets as well as buy tickets. The project for railways will take a formal shape once all approvals are in place," he added.

NCMC, launched on March 4, 2019, is an inter-operable transport card conceived by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. This enables users to pay for travel, toll duties (toll tax), retail shopping, and money withdrawal. It is an indigenously made product first conceptualised in 2006 as part of the National Urban Transport Policy.