For the bus commuters in the capital city, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) started its trial of contactless ticketing system in all the DTC buses plying in the city on Thursday (February 18). The passengers can make use of this service through the ‘Chartr’ app.
It is to be noted that the DTC first started the trial of contactless ticketing in some cluster buses followed by some DTC buses in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The trial was brought about in 29 DTC buses in September 2020, and it was further extended to 128 such buses.
Media reports suggested that the trial is now going to be extended to over 3,700 buses after meetings of the Task Force constituted by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot.
For the purpose, Quick Response (QR) code stickers will be available on the buses, which the passengers can scan on their smartphones to pay for their bus fare. Passes can also be obtained through the contactless ticketing procedures.
The DTC bus tickets can be bought for this contactless system on the ‘Chartr’ app, which is available for download on Google Playstore in its full version. The passengers can buy their tickets through the feeding fare or the destination on it and pay for the same through various digital modes of payment. The e-ticket bought on this contactless ticketing app makes it a paperless system too.
The app allows the passengers to check all the stops on a bus route and the frequency of buses arriving in a half an hour period. It also provides an estimated time of arrival, which gets updated in real-time during the journey. They should note though that the ticket becomes invalid after the passengers reach their stop.