PPBL, Hyderabad Metro Rail launches Paytm transit card

Hyderabad: India's home-grown Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) has launched the Paytm Transit Card in collaboration with Hyderabad Metro Rail. The transit card will work as an NCMC card, which will enable the everyday Hyderabad commuter the option to travel seamlessly via the metro, buses, and other public transport using a single card. They can now simply purchase an NCMC card, which can be displayed at the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates to proceed for the journey.

This will help over 50 lakh riders in Hyderabad who use metro/bus services every day to experience seamless connectivity.

The Bank aims to equip Indians with one physical card for all their everyday needs — from travel in metro, railways, state-owned bus services, toll & parking charges to payments at offline merchant stores, online shopping and more. The card also enables the withdrawal of money from ATMs. With this launch, users won't have to worry about carrying multiple cards for different purposes and just use the Paytm Transit Card for all their payments.

Sajal Bhatnagar, Chief Business Officer Paytm Payments Bank said, "Paytm has been involved with the HMR from the inception and expects more benefits to follow for the passengers for quicker journeys. Paytm and HMR is the first across the country to go for end-to-end account based inter-operable mobility cards and expects the Transit card usage to be subsumed gradually into this mode. Our team is committed to repeating the success of Paytm Payments Bank FASTags with Paytm Transit Card as well."

NVS Reddy, MD, HMRL, said, "I am happy to know that Paytm Payment Bank Limited & L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited have entered into an agreement to upgrade from closed loop AFC System to Open loop. This will make Hyderabad Metro Rail NCMC compliant, conforming to the Govt. of India's vision of One Nation One Card."

KVB Reddy, MD & CEO, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited said, "As our biggest digital push ever towards making our commuter's journey seamless, we are delighted to partner with the Paytm Payments bank, which will be steering the Open Loop Smart Card project for Hyderabad Metro Rail. Based on both EMV and NCMC technology, the inter-operable mobility card project aims to simplify the way a Hyderabad commuter travels. It would offer a minimum to no requirement of touch points for ticket purchases at the stations for metro or any other transports in the future. The open loop Paytm Transit Card will allow us to be at par with the way the world travels, i.e., a single card for all purposes from transit to retail. We expect this card to be used by all travellers and become popular amongst our commuters of Hyderabad.

Sudhir Chiplunkar, Chief Operating Officer, L&T Metro Rail (Hyderabad) Limited said, "The signing of this agreement is an important step towards transition of Hyderabad metro system from closed loop to Open loop system. We hope to implement this within a year. Once the transition is over, the holder of this card will be able to travel seamlessly across all NCMC compliant modes of transportation within the nation."