Final-phase of contactless ticketing on Delhi buses to begin on Monday

The state transport department on Monday will roll out the month-long final phase of the contactless ticket system in the network of cluster buses in Delhi, which are operated by concessionaires, the government said in a press statement.

Last week, the government introduced the contactless ticket system in the Delhi Transport Corporation’s (DTC) fleet of 3,760 buses. Through the trial, it will now cover the cluster fleet of 2,990 buses.

The government launched the first phase of trials concerning the contactless ticket scheme in June 2020, soon after it started relaxing lockdown norms in phases. The idea was to cut down on physical human interaction, and minimise the risk of Covid-19 spreading.

Passengers can make use of this service through the ‘Chartr’ app. Almost all buses now have QR code stickers pasted on the back of each seat, which can be scanned to make payments through the app. Several buses also had posters, written in Hindi, explaining how one should proceed with the online ticket purchase by using the app.

Three such trial runs were conducted by the government till the scheme was introduced in the DTC fleet on Wednesday.

The government said in its statement, around 400,000 tickets have been booked through the ‘Chartr’ app till now and 67% of the total tickets were pink passes -- the free tickets for women passengers.

In Delhi, women commuters are exempted from paying for bus tickets under a government scheme launched in 2019.