The Delhi government’s proposed “lifetime smart cards”, which are set to replace pink tickets for free bus rides, may restrict the scheme to women who are residents of the Capital, as address proof could be required during registration, officials familiar with the plan said on Thursday.
Days after Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta announced the new smart cards in her budget speech, the transport department has begun working on the scheme’s logistics. The cards are expected to roll out after April 25.
However, Delhi transport minister Pankaj Singh clarified that a final decision has yet to be made.
“The schemes in Delhi are for Delhi’s people, and all women will continue to avail free bus rides,” he told HT on Thursday.
When asked if smart cards would be issued to women from NCR cities, Singh said: “We are still taking a decision on this front and the final modalities are still being worked out. As of now, all women using DTC buses can travel for free.”
As per officials from the transport department, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) operates eight NCR routes connecting Delhi to Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Greater Noida, among other satellite towns. If the smart card mandate requires proof of Delhi residency, women from these areas might be excluded from the scheme.
During her budget speech, CM Gupta reaffirmed the government’s commitment to free bus rides for women while criticising the previous administration for alleged corruption in ticketing.
“No free scheme for the welfare of people will be discontinued but the corruption in the system will be stopped now. The fee rides will continue but we will issue one card to the women that they can use for every trip and the entire system will be digitised. The previous government just issued multiple tickets and added to corruption in the name of ticketing,” Gupta had during her budget speech on March 25.
According to Delhi’s 2024-25 Economic Survey, the number of “pink tickets” issued in the city was 177 million in 2020-21, which had swelled to 400 million in 2022-23. Former finance minister Atishi had during the budget last year said that approximately 1.1 million women travel for free on buses every day. From 2019 to 2024, in five years, the AAP government had provided women in Delhi free buses rides 1.53 billion times, Atishi had said.
