Delhi’s women passengers will need a Pink Saheli smart card to travel free on Delhi Transport Corporation and Transport Department buses from 1 October, ending the use of paper pink tickets under the women’s free travel scheme. Women from neighbouring states and other National Capital Region cities will no longer qualify for free travel under the new arrangement and will have to purchase regular tickets.
The change follows the Transport Department’s decision to make the smart card mandatory after the paper-ticket system was extended until 30 September. The department had initially planned to end paper pink tickets on 17 September, but extended the arrangement during the service fortnight beginning on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday. No further extension has been announced.
According to DTC, the Pink Saheli smart card is being issued free of cost to eligible women who reside in Delhi. More than 1.9 million women have obtained the card so far, while the process of issuing cards to eligible applicants will continue. DTC has authorised section centres to support the remaining applications.
Under the new system, a woman passenger will have to tap her valid Pink Saheli smart card on the electronic ticketing machine carried by the bus conductor after boarding. She will then tell the conductor her destination. The conductor will issue a ticket through the machine, even though the eligible passenger will not pay the fare.
The card transaction will record the passenger’s details on the system’s server. DTC will use this information to send compensation details to the Transport Department. The system therefore replaces the paper-based record of free journeys with a digitally recorded process linked to the passenger’s smart card.
Women who do not have the card from 1 October will not receive free travel and will have to pay the applicable fare like other passengers. The new eligibility arrangement also excludes women travelling to Delhi from other states or NCR cities, who were able to use the paper pink-ticket system for free travel until the existing arrangement ends.
The change could also affect students living in Delhi who do not have an Aadhaar card showing a Delhi address. The report said that thousands of such students, although studying and residing in the capital, may lose access to free bus travel if they cannot establish eligibility under the card-issuance process.
The smart-card requirement makes documentation and registration central to access to the subsidy. DTC has not announced any further extension of the paper-ticket system, and eligible women without cards will need to approach the authorised centres as the new rule takes effect on 1 October.
