Commuters of Bengaluru have reason to cheer. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has announced an upgrade to its ticketing system to enable payments using the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) that has been a demand from the public since its younger sibling, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) enabled it in 2022-2023.
In a report titled Tap, scan, go: BMTC launches smart ticketing across fleet in the Bangalore Mirror, it has been reported that digital payments made up close to 20 per cent of the corporation’s daily ticket revenue, driven by its static QR Code payments system. Interestingly, in another report titled Payment failed, Bangalore Mirror reports that UPI is not a preferred option in sub-urban, semi-urban and rural parts of the city due to connectivity issues leading to people preferring to pay cash.
As per the first report, BMTC is looking at getting Android-based ‘Smart’ Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) which is kind of suspicious, since the existing machines in use are Android-powered Pine Labs machines. However, a contradiction is observed in the next paragraph, where it says that the ETMs are already in use. The demand for NCMC integration however is due to the fact that BMRCL is already using them and keeping this in mind, it would be fair to assume that BMTC won’t make the mistake of going for an ‘exclusive NCMC‘.
The ticketing upgrade will also upgrade the BMTC’s vehicle tracking capabilities, building on its Automatic Vehicle Location System (AVLS). While not reported, integration into mapping platforms using the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) is also a likely outcome.
Another change expected as part of the upgrade is the introduction of dynamic QR codes. Interestingly, in an report published by The Hindu, there was a demand for the existing static QR code system to continue, but the demand was for conductors to carry the QR Code as a badge as it was difficult to scan the QR Codes on the walls on the bus. In all fairness, the existing setup works perfectly and both, asking the conductor to carry it or a Dynamic QR code will merely make things more difficult.
Let us see what happens. Interestingly, BMTC in 2017 had partnered up with Axis Bank to establish an EMV open-loop payment system, nearly two years before the NPCI launched the NCMC framework It was quickly phased out a year later.. Among other factors, it was reported by Christin Mathew Philip of MoneyControl in 2024, that BMTC with a daily ridership of 38 lakh was not keen on accepting the Namma Metro NCMC because BMRCL had a ridership of 7-8 lakh. A rather deluded argument, if you ask me, but I sincerely hope that this does not give the administration any ideas to go in for an exclusive NCMC. Karnataka was the after all the first state in India to introduce electronic ticketing on 15 August 2004.
Featured Image: Conductor selling tickets with a Ticket Machine (Image animated using Grok/xAI)
