The Delhi Metro has refuted media reports claiming that 10 Metro stations would go completely cashless from Sunday.
The 10 Metro stations—Rohini East and Rohini West on the Red Line; MG Road Station on Yellow Line; Mayur Vihar Phase-I, Nirman Vihar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri West, and Noida Sector-15 on Blue Line; and Nehru Place and Kailash Colony on the Violet Line—would have one cash counter functioning always, along with two token vending machines (TVMs), which will also accept cash as a mode of payment for commuters who are not comfortable with using digital payment methods, a Delhi Metro spokesperson confirmed to The Sunday Guardian.
However, as a pilot project, these stations would be focusing on digital payment methods for which the Delhi Metro would be using the e-wallet company Paytm as the payment gateway for commuters to buy their tokens or smart cards. Besides this, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) would also facilitate the usage of debit and credit cards at all these stations.
Asked why only Paytm has been chosen as their digital payments bank, the DMRC official spokesperson said, “It is not now that we have chosen Paytm. Paytm had always been a partner with the DMRC and it had been roped in through a proper tendering and competitive process.”
The spokesperson further added that the Delhi Metro is in the process to bring in other digital e-wallets for payments platform for convenience of the commuters.
The 10 Metro stations have been chosen based on certain prominent factors like footfall, smart card users in these stations (over 70%) and adequate mobile connectivity,
Delhi Metro has also said that once launched, this project will be monitored round the clock for feedback emanating from the ground after which a decision on the further course of action would be taken on whether to extend it to more stations or not.