‘Cashless BRTS not welcome’

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation seems upbeat about its decision to transform the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport System (AMTS) into cashless entities for the public from September 1. But the public has failed to share the same excitement. Some even feel that the move will end up alienating otherwise regular commuters Once the rule is implemented, commuters will be able to travel by BRTS or AMTS by using a Janmitra card or Janyatra application or by paying via debit or credit card.

However, commuters wonder how practical it will be, especially for those who do not own a smart phone, are illiterate or do not use plastic money.

The only cash transaction that will happen at the BRTS terminals will be for top-up of Janmitra cards.

That means a person who decides to use the public transport on a particular day will first have to procure a Janmitra card by paying one-time cost of Rs 50 plus the top-up amount, along with the copy of ID proof-—PAN card, driving licence, Aadhaar card, passport or election card.

The requirement of ID proof too has raised eyebrows, with critics pointing out that not all commuters who use public transport have these documents.

Justifying the move, deputy municipal commissioner (Smart City) Rakesh Shankar told Mirror, “This move will make our financial control systems more robust. We will definitely allow some transition time and close to 140 ICICI staff will be there at all BRTS stations to assist commuters to secure Janmitra cards.”

He added that a minimum of Rs 28 balance would have to be maintained on the card. “Systems have to be dynamic and we will have learning from these and will evolve,” he said.

City mayor Bijal Patel said, “Removing cash-based transactions will ensure there is zero corruption in the current system.”

Not worth it

Marketing professional Kiran Kumar Baria (57) said, “Despite having a card earlier, I had to stand in a queue. So I stopped using it. I feel it’s not an efficient system and won’t work here. Sometime people don’t know how to use it and create delays.

What’s the point of taking the card if it doesn’t work?”

He added, “The value for the customer is negligible here as the purpose of facilitating speedy transit at terminals is not being served.”

Jaya Kona (35), a professional, said, “This is not a practical system and is inconvenient to the users. Also sometimes the card does not work and that creates undue delay.”

Chirag Parmar (22), a student recently switched over from 2-wheeler to BRTS, said, “I will stop taking the BRTS now that this card business has started. It will take more time to get top-ups for the card, so I prefer to use my bike now.”