Glitches in e-ticketing: Why Gurugaman commuters still opt for cash payments

GURGAON: The Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) has launched its e-ticketing system on all bus routes plying in the city roads to promote contactless and cashless transactions.
While there is a steady growth in terms of users and transactions in the last few months, many passengers are still reluctant to adopt the new “cumbersome” payment method and prefer to pay in cash for their journeys.
According to GMCBL data, 634 passengers bought 1,435 e-tickets in February — when the service was first launched on two routes — which increased to 1,018 users with 4,132 transactions in May, when the QR code ticketing system was launched on all bus routes.
For cashless transactions, passengers need to download the Gurugaman mobile app. After boarding a bus, they have to go to the conductor and scan the QR code shown on the electronic ticketing machine (ETM), following which they have to select their destination and make the payment. E-tickets are then sent on the passenger’s phone. There are time restrictions on the e-ticket, so a passenger cannot use it again for another bus ride.
Sushil Kumar, who often commutes by bus from Huda City Centre to Subhash Chowk, said he prefers paying cash. “To buy a ticket, I have to download the app first and then scan the QR code on the ETM, which is a tedious task just to get a Rs 10 ticket. For cashless payment, I have to ensure that I have an internet connection all the time on my mobile phone. There are many people who don’t use smartphones,” Kumar said.
Even some conductors are hesitant in allowing passengers to pay online, saying network issues cause delays in ticket generation, adding to passenger inconvenience.
“We are issuing tickets both digitally and manually but prefer the latter as technical and network problems delay the process of issuing a ticket. This causes inconvenience,” a conductor said.
Some passengers availing the service said GMCBL should provide discounts to encourage cashless transactions. “These days, people are used to making cashless payments through UPI. If GMCBL provides discount on e-tickets, more people will use it,” said Shikha Puri, a passenger.