One phrase that has been going on for the past few years in the transit scene is the National Common Mobility Card, or NCMC, sometimes going by the name One Nation, One Card as well. So, what is the NCMC, how does it work and how does one get it?
The answer is simple. The NCMC is essentially an EMV (Europay, Mastercard and Visa) compatible open-loop card that can be used for transit almost anywhere in India. The NCMC is a RuPay (usually Prepaid, sometimes Debit) card issued by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) through a bank. In principle, any RuPay card (Prepaid and Debit) can be used as an NCMC after a service area creation (you present the card to the customer care at the metro station and ask them to do so) and after that it works. Just ensure that the RuPay Contactless symbol is visible on the card. The transit balance is known as the ‘Offline’ or ‘Contactless’ balance and is not the same as the balance that can be used for regular swipe transactions.
Now comes the common question, what if you, like me, don’t want a regular debit or credit card shoved down my throat and just want a card purely for transit purposes?
So it turns out NPCI has three variants of the RuPay Contactless. The first is a Debit Card that is linked to a savings bank account and has the following limits: ₹2,000 for transit payments, ₹5,000 for contactless PoS payments, ₹10,000 for ATM withdrawals and ₹25,000 for shopping (regular payments). The second is the Minimum KYC Wallet that allows for the same ₹2,000 limit for transit payments and ₹9,000 for PoS payments (shopping) and drops support for ATM withdrawals. The last one is the Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) card that acts as a standalone transit card with a limit of ₹2,000 for transit payments only.
Now, most transit companies that are accepting NCMC (You can check out the full list by clicking here) will issue a card either after minimum KYC or even no KYC. For minimum KYC, they will ask for your ID proof, either PAN or Aadhaar and a phone number. For no KYC, you don’t even need that. If you’re in Chennai, you can get a no KYC Ongo NCMC through vending machines at various stations. If you’re in Mumbai, you can get the Airtel NCMC with just your phone number and a one-time password (OTP) at any Blue Line (Line 1) station.
If you get an NCMC at either a metro station or bus terminal, then you will likely not have to create a service area for it. You can just directly use it.
Now, coming to the next part – recharging your NCMC. An NCMC can be recharged anywhere where it is accepted. That means you can recharge it at the customer care of the metro station you used it at or at the depot of the bus transco that you used it at. Alternatively, you can also recharge it online, using the bank’s website or the bank’s app. Note. Online recharges require the card to be topped up before they can be used. You can do this at any of the card validating machines at the metro station, or if you have NFC capabilities on your phone, you can do it then and there. If you’re recharging at a metro station, do ask the staff once. Some metro systems have awkward regulations, such as Chennai Metro not allowing UPI transactions for non-SBI cards to be recharged.
Where the NCMC won’t work
Now comes an interesting thing. There are some cases where your existing NCMC may not work even though the system is fully NCMC compliant. These are: Noida Metro, Kochi Metro, Pune Metro, Nagpur Metro, Ahmedabad Janmarg (BRTS), Ahmedabad City buses (AMTS) and Surat Citilink (BRTS). Why? According to NPCI, these systems are exclusive systems which means that only their NCMCs will be accepted there but not others. However, these NCMCs will be valid on all the other non-exclusive systems. To quote NPCI: “Exclusive NCMC project means a single bank is selected by a transit operator who acts as issuer as well as acquirer.” Further, NPCI also states that “NCMC cards of other banks will also get accepted in future as decided by Authority.”
A more detailed article on this will follow soon.
So now, you know how the NCMC works, how to get one, how to recharge it and how to use it. So go on out, start traveling and let me know. If you run into any trouble or find out something interesting about the NCMC, do drop a note in the comments below.
Note: I personally recommend getting the Airtel Payments Bank NCMC. It has so far been problem-free, allows me to track my payments properly and more.
