• UGI USER
  • Sep 12, 2023
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National Common Mobility Card Revolutionary or fad?

Relevance

  • GS 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways 
  • Tags: #NCMC #NationalCommonMobilityCard #TransitPayments #mint #UPSC

Why in the News?

NCMCs are flexible contactless cards for multi-mode transport, yet they face various challenges in achieving widespread adoption.

NCMC: Aiming for Seamless Travel

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), introduced in 2019, promises streamlined access to metro stations using existing debit or credit cards, eliminating the need for separate metro cards and ticket queues. Despite its potential, its widespread adoption and impact in India are yet to be realized.

 NCMC vs. City-Specific Metro Cards

  • NCMC is a contactless card designed for unified payment across various transit systems, aiming to offer convenience by allowing access to all Indian metro locations with a single card.
  • While cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Chennai offer their own city-specific “smart” cards for metro travel, these cards are limited to their respective metro networks.
  • In contrast, National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) are designed to be interoperable, allowing users to access metros in different cities, buses, trains, and even make retail payments.
  • NCMCs aim to provide seamless and versatile transit and payment options for travelers across India.
  • Several countries, including the UK and Australia, employ common mobility cards and permit NFC-enabled Visa and Mastercard payments for public transportation.

NCMC Card Types

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is issued in various forms, including prepaid and debit Rupay cards, with plans for credit card issuance in the future.

Prepaid NCMC Card

  • A prepaid NCMC card can be obtained from metro stations by completing online KYC (Know Your Customer) through the issuing bank’s platform.

Debit NCMC Card

  • Debit NCMC cards, on the other hand, are issued directly by the bank.
  • These debit cards function similarly to prepaid cards for offline transit payments at metros, railways, buses, and parking facilities.
  • They come equipped with an offline wallet that allows users to load money for offline transit transactions.

Offline Transaction Process

  • Offline transit payments, such as those made at metro stations, lack instant connectivity to servers for real-time balance verification.
  • Instead, the NCMC card features a chip functioning like a purse, which requires preloading with funds to facilitate transactions.
  • Mihir Gandhi, PwC India’s leader in payments transformation, explained, “Metro payments are offline transactions, which means there is no instant connectivity to servers to check whether you have enough balance in the bank account.
  • The card has a chip that acts like a purse which needs to be loaded for making transactions.”

Convenience and Usage

  • The NCMC debit card, essentially functioning as a prepaid card for transit payments, eliminates the need for a separate prepaid transit card.
  • Users can recharge or load funds onto the NCMC debit card directly from their bank accounts.

Resolution for Payment Failures

  • In case of payment failures, cardholders must contact the issuing bank for resolution, as metro station staff does not provide support in this regard.
  • This system ensures that any payment issues are addressed directly through the issuing bank.

Hurdles Facing NCMC Card Adoption

Prepaid Cards Dominate

  • Prepaid National Common Mobility Cards (NCMCs) currently hold more prominence than their debit counterparts.
  • Various banks, in collaboration with metro corporations, have introduced prepaid NCMCs, facilitating their usage across different cities.

Challenges with Changing Cities

  • However, if the issuing bank for the card is different from the one linked with the new city’s metro system, cardholders migrating to other cities may need to relink their NCMC card to the local metro system.

Usage Limitations

  • Prepaid NCMCs often have a maximum loading limit of ₹2,000 and mainly support offline retail payments.
  • Yet, limitations exist in terms of compatibility with various transit options. 

Bus Travel Constraints

  • NCMC cards are not usable for bus travel in cities like Delhi (Delhi Transport Corporation) and Bangalore (BMTC).

Local Train Usage

  • They are also not currently accepted for local train networks in Mumbai.

Challenges to Wider Adoption

  • Several factors have hindered the widespread adoption of NCMC cards, including the growing popularity of UPI for smaller payments and a lack of awareness among metro corporation employees who continue to promote their in-house smart cards over NCMCs.

Government’s Directive for NCMC Adoption

  • News reports indicate that the Indian government has instructed all banks to designate the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) as the default choice for all new Rupay debit cards and during reissuance of existing cards.
  • Notably, in cities like Pune, where metro operations have recently commenced, NCMC cards are automatically provided as the default transit cards to passengers.

Why NCMC Faces Challenges in India?

  • In many countries, having a card for transit and everyday small payments is a big hit.
  • But in India, UPI has become the top choice for small transactions, making a prepaid card like NCMC less popular.
  • UPI payments are quick and don’t require a PIN, unlike cards. However, one advantage of a contactless card is that it’s easy to use for instant payments.
  • For parents, NCMC can be handy to give their kids a monthly allowance and track their spending, especially if the kids use public transport regularly.

NCMC vs. UPI

Aspect NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) UPI (Unified Payments Interface)
Primary Use Transit payments and small daily transactions Electronic funds transfer and payments
Authentication Contactless card with instant payment PIN or biometric authentication
Convenience Tap and pay without PIN Quick digital transactions
Popular Use Metro, Bus P2P payments, bill payments, shopping

 

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) in India aims to revolutionize transit payments, offering interoperability and convenience. However, challenges like limited usage and low awareness hinder its widespread adoption. The future may see increased NCMC usage if promoted effectively alongside existing payment methods like UPI.

Source: Livemint.

Mains Question

Explain the concept of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and its objectives. What are the key features that distinguish it from traditional metro smart cards?