Pune: Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will soon launch smart cards for passengers aiming at bringing in transparency in the corporation. The card will be linked with the Aadhaar number of the passenger.
Abhijeet Bhosale, spokesperson of MSRTC, said, “The card will be linked with the passenger’s Aadhaar number and will be issued at any bus stand across the state. The smart card will prevent long waiting queues at ticket windows. A single card can be used by any person of the passenger’s family member.”
There have been several complaints regarding fake tickets and bogus passes. In the past few months, the police have registered complaints about touts selling tickets. This, in turn, causes losses to the state transport body. As per the MSRTC’s claims, many conductors were manhandled by pass holder passengers over suspicious passes.
MSRTC provides concessional passes to 24 sections of society ranging from students, senior citizens, disabled people, among others. The transport body gives concessions from 50 per cent to 100 per cent. Passes issued under any of the 24 sections cannot be used by any of the passenger’s family members.
“The State Transport has decided to link new smart cards with the Aadhaar card. It will provide accurate information about a particular person. The full information like name and age will be displayed on the card and it cannot use by other members of his/her family,” MSRTC official said.
The smart card will allow monthly and tri-monthly pass holders to pay the amount of their passes online. The passes will be renewed at any bus stand. In the last financial year, around 39 crore people took benefit of the concessional passes.
