Pink slips in Delhi buses continue as LG’s nod awaited for smart card implementation

New Delhi: Women availing free travel on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses are likely to continue receiving paper-based pink slips for a few more days, despite the October 1 deadline to shift to smart travel cards, as the Delhi government is waiting for lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu’s approval to notify changes governing the free-travel scheme

New Delhi: Women availing free travel on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses are likely to continue receiving paper-based pink slips for a few more days, despite the October 1 deadline to shift to smart travel cards, as the Delhi government is waiting for lieutenant governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu’s approval to notify changes governing the free-travel scheme.

Officials said card distribution centres will remain operational at least for this month. (HT Archive)

An official on Friday said the proposed change would restrict benefits to women residents of Delhi with a Saheli smart card to avail bus travel mandatory.

The amended notification is expected to be approved shortly, and a formal gazette notification will be issued making the smart-card system mandatory from next week, the official said.

“The wording of the scheme itself needs to be changed from ‘free travel for all women in Delhi’ to ‘free travel for women from Delhi’. Once the amended notification is approved and the gazette notification is issued, free travel will be linked to the Pink Saheli smart card,” the senior transport department official said on the condition of anonymity.

The distinction is significant as the ticket-based system allows women travelling on DTC buses to avail free travel irrespective of their place of residence.

The Delhi government had earlier announced that Pink Saheli National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC), launched in March, would be issued after Aadhaar-based verification to women with a Delhi address. The government has said the card will also function as a common mobility card for other public transport services after recharge.

The card needs to be tapped on the electronic ticketing machine. The transition to the smart-card system has already been extended several times – first announced from August 1, extended to August 31, September 17, September 30 and October 1.

Officials said card distribution centres will remain operational at least for this month. Women who have not yet obtained the card can continue to apply at the authorised centres, even after the paper-ticket system is discontinued.

More than 18.5 lakh cards had been issued by September, according to government data, and authorities repeatedly urged eligible women to register before the paper-ticket system was phased out.