Smart cards a hit among Ahmedabad citizens

Looks like the incentive scheme introduced for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is doing wonders for Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) fortunes. Within one month of implementation of the scheme, 5,000 smart cards have been sold.

The total number of smart cards sold has crossed 25,000. Comparing the situation with last month, a senior AJL official said, “Till now, every month, the sale of smart cards was around 2,000. But after the scheme was launched on August 1, sales more than doubled and we sold 5,000 cards in August.”

The incentive scheme gives a commuter 10% bonus on every recharge. For instance, if a commuter recharges his smart card for Rs100, it will actually be  recharged for Rs110. The scheme has been introduced for three months.

AJL officials are obviously happy with this development. “There were between 8,000-9,000 active users. This figure has now touched 13,000,”  added the AJL official.

He asserted that people have responded very well to the scheme. Not only has the sale of smart cards risen but so has the recharge amount. People are recharging for larger amounts and also more number of times.

Executive director of BRTS, Utpal Pedia, said that the minimum balance required to travel has been reduced. “Earlier, a smart card had to have  minimum Rs28, but later we reduced it to Rs10. This is another reason for rise in sale of smart cards,” he said.