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The NCMC facilitates convenient travel while integrating last-mile connectivity, a must in India's extensive landscape.
It enables travellers to pay for a cross-section of needs, including toll tax, retail shopping, and withdrawing money.
Since its launch in early 2019, the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) -- a contactless card that can be leveraged for accessing multiple modes of transport -- has witnessed tremendous traction.
The NCMC enables travellers to pay for a cross-section of needs, including toll tax, retail shopping, and withdrawing money.
It is accepted across major transport systems, such as the Delhi Metro Corporation, Mumbai Metro and the BrihanMumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST), and Goa's Kadamba Transport Corporation bus service.
The NCMC facilitates convenient travel while integrating last-mile connectivity, a must in India's extensive landscape.
The NCMC was launched by the ministry of housing and urban affairs to foster a common contactless transport solution. It relies on the National Payments Corporation of India's RuPay platform.
An array of banks, including State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank and RBL Bank, issue the NCMC as a prepaid-RuPay card, making it highly accessible for urban travellers.
Focused on automating and digitising fare collection through automatic fare collection systems, NCMC is powered and managed by some of India's largest providers of integrated omni-channel payment solutions.
In addition to enabling convenient travelling, NCMC also has the power to promote digitisation of payments, development of smart cities, and bring multiple transit operators on a common platform.
Once it becomes a part of people's daily lives, this revolutionary card can prompt a stellar increase in the number of travellers using public transport.
The NCMC's features like contactless technology, secure encryption, two-factor authentication, lost card protection, interoperability, cashless convenience, easy recharge and travel discounts are poised to upgrade public mass urban transit infrastructure in a sustainable manner.
By allowing commuters to seamlessly switch between various modes of public transport such as buses, metros, trains and taxis, the NCMC can reduce the need for private vehicles.
NCMC also facilitates cashless transactions and simplifies fare collection, reducing revenue leakage for public transport operators.
As NCMC usage data is accumulated, the authorities can make data-driven decisions about where to invest in public infrastructure, prompting more efficient routes, better-planned stations, and improved passenger amenities.
Further, encouraging the use of public transportation through NCMC contributes to lower carbon emissions and fewer private vehicles on the road will result in reducing air pollution.
According to a report, cars and vans in 2022 had the biggest share of transportation carbon dioxide emissions worldwide (48 per cent). NCMC encourages paperless ticketing, further contributing to a green environment.
With NCMC being prepped to promote last-mile connectivity options such as bike-sharing or electric scooters, it is complementing public transportation and encouraging the use of eco-friendly modes for short distances.
As the initiative picks up pace, it has the ability to empower cities with NCMC data to make informed decisions about urban planning, including optimisation of bus routes, ensuring accessibility for all, and designing transit hubs that cater to the needs of commuters.
NCMC has the potential to reduce individual transportation costs through improved public transportation, making it especially significant for low-income individuals and families.
It can also benefit the tourism industry by making it easier for travellers to navigate and explore cities, while also ensuring that businesses located near public transportation hubs see increased foot traffic.
Over time, as people experience the convenience of NCMC-enabled public transport, the initiative can also lead to a gradual shift in behaviour, where public transportation becomes the preferred choice for urban travellers, thus bolstering the mass urban transit ecosystem as a whole.
Ravi B Goyal is Chairman & MD, AGS Transact Technologies.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
