Turns student ID cards into a debit card that can be used for payments within campus
Amid the acute cash crunch following demonetization, the Lakshmibai college in Delhi University has come to the rescue of its students by providing them with special identity cards, having Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips attached to them, and which can be used as debit cards to make payments within the college.
The card was launched in September this year. "It is undoubtedly a blessing for us at this time. I am an outstation student and it was so difficult for me to arrange cash for everything. I wasn't using it for payments earlier, but after demonetization, I have started using it," says Subhanshi, a second-year student.
This is the first time that a college of the Delhi University has come up with such an idea. The cards can be used for payments in the college canteens, library, for fee submission and even for photostats. "More and more students are using it," claims Pratyush Vatsala, college principal.
The college has a tie-up with Bank of India and students can get their cards recharged. "They can use old currency to recharge the cards. This gives students an easy way of using their old-denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000," she said. The card, which is valid for a year, can be reactivated by the bank by transferring the money in the previous card to the new one.
Meanwhile, some students complained they are not aware of the card at all. "I recharged the card last week, but I don't know how to use it. Some students say it can be used for recharging mobile phones and metro cards, but I don't know. The college union is not taking much efforts to make it popular," says a third-year student, who wished to remain anonymous.
The union says it is organising an awareness session on how to use these smart cards at the beginning of the next session. "Lots of students still don't know how to use the cards. So, we are planning to have some awareness sessions in January next year," says college union president Sonia Dhama.
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