KSRTC Travel Card is part of a closed-loop payment system that doesn’t permit integration with other transport modes.

With the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) rolling out a travel card, there are now calls from several quarters for an integrated ticketing system — on the lines of the Kochi1 card — to facilitate seamless travel across multiple modes of transport.

However, several hurdles remain in implementing services such as the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), also known as ‘One Nation, One Card’ — a contactless debit card developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) for payments across transport systems.

While the ‘Chalo’ card and app, rolled out by KSRTC, are being hailed as a solution to problems like ‘change’ (coins and smaller-denomination currency), they are part of a closed-loop payment system that doesn’t permit integration with other transport modes.

D Dhanuraj, Chairman of Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR), gave his insights to Krishna Kumar K E of The New Indian Express (TNIE) on the subject.

“Using apps, one can track buses. Authorities also gain valuable data on demand routes and peak-hour traffic,”

he is quoted as saying.

Read the full article by The New Indian Express here.

Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.