Delhi’s free bus travel scheme for women is set for a major change, with the government preparing to phase out paper pink tickets and make the Pink Saheli smart card the required pass for travelling without paying on Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses.
Delhi Transport Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said a notification on the change would be issued soon. The move follows repeated extensions of the paper-ticket arrangement, which currently allows women to receive a pink ticket from the bus conductor after boarding.
The transport department had earlier indicated that smart cards would become mandatory from October 1, but implementation of the paperless system was deferred several times. The proposed notification is expected to formally shift the scheme from conductor-issued paper tickets to a card-based system.
According to the minister, around 1.9 million Pink Saheli cards have already been issued. A senior DTC official said an awareness campaign would be conducted for the next 10 days to encourage women passengers to obtain the card before the new system takes effect. The stated aim is to reduce disruption when paper tickets are withdrawn.
The Pink Saheli card is available to women living in Delhi and members of the transgender community who are at least five years old. Applicants must provide their Aadhaar details, an Aadhaar-linked mobile number and other required personal information. The first card is issued free of charge. A replacement card for one that is lost or damaged costs Rs 59, including GST, and remains valid for five years from the date of issue.
Passengers can apply offline at DTC centres, district magistrate offices and sub-divisional magistrate offices. At these locations, a field officer service agent collects the applicant’s details and completes verification through a one-time password. The card may be issued on the same day after verification, according to the information provided in the report.
An online application is also available through MufinPay. Applicants must enter their mobile number and Aadhaar details, complete OTP verification and download a QR acknowledgement. The physical card must then be collected from an authorised DTC centre. Around 50 authorised centres are available for card issuance.
The card will allow free travel on DTC and cluster buses. It can also be used on the Delhi Metro and Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, but those journeys will not be free. Passengers will have to load money onto the card before using it for Metro or rapid rail travel. The card can be recharged by scanning the QR code on its reverse through a UPI application. For use in the Delhi Metro, the balance must be topped up at an automatic vending machine at a station.
The proposed shift places greater responsibility on passengers to complete registration before boarding. Its immediate operational test will be whether the awareness campaign and card-issuance network can reach women who rely on spontaneous bus travel, do not yet have a card or face difficulty completing Aadhaar-linked verification. The next formal step is the Delhi government’s notification making the Pink Saheli card mandatory.
