No more queues: BMTC introduces digital passes

The BMTC has now introduced purchase of daily, weekly and monthly passes on a mobile app in collaboration with Tummoc, a company that offers online payment facilities for transport service providers.

Bengaluru's Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) commuters are in for good news as they no longer have to wait in long queues to get passes. The BMTC has now introduced purchase of daily, weekly and monthly passes on a mobile app in collaboration with Tummoc, a company that offers online payment facilities for transport service providers.

BMTC has introduced purchase of daily, weekly and monthly passes on a mobile app in collaboration with Tummoc. (Photo by Samuel Rajkumar/ Hindustan Times)

The launch of the project took place at the BMTC central office in Shanthinagar on Wednesday. This comes after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) launched one-day and three-day passes for Bengaluru's Namma Metro on Ugadi, April 2, as a last resort to increase daily ridership.

The Indian Express quoted a senior corporation official as saying that this new feature creates a hassle-free pass purchase experience with cashless, paperless and contactless transactions for passengers. "This system enables purchase of passes at their fingertips through the mobile app. After payment, the pass holder can check the digital pass validity, and the digital pass will be generated along with a unique ID, validity and dynamic QR code,” he told the news website.

Passengers can now book their tickets and passes in advance. Weekly passes can be booked in advance, while daily tickets or passes must be booked on the day of the commute. Passengers will then have to activate their tickets or pass and get them validated within 30 minutes of activation, according to a report. The passes and tickets can be validate it by tapping on the Scan QR Code option on the app and scanning the conductor’s code. BMTC bus conductors will be provided with QR code readable Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) to validate the passes.

Passengers can check for the validity of their digital pass on the app and a unique ID and QR code will be generated along with it, reports said. Commuters can then show the digital pass to the conductor on their mobile phone.

The BMTC had launched a digital ticketing pass called the BMTC Namma Pass for the Volvo Vajra air-conditioned services in 2019, but scrapped it soon after.

Another report quoted the BMTC Managing Director Anbu Kumar as saying that the new project has been introduced only for a period of three months to assess the reaction and demand from the public.