NCMC is in line with idea of one nation, one card: Sitharaman

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) has been launched in India with the tagline of 'one nation, one card,' said Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday.

In the written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, she said that the high-level Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments (CDDP) under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani has, inter-alia also recommended that NCMC card, launched on March 4, 2019, be usable at all transit locations.

"All new metro and transit payments should be made interoperable through NCMC," she said.

According to the minister, the NCMC card has two instruments on it - a regular debit card which can be used at an ATM, and a local wallet (stored value account), which can be used for contactless payments, without the need to go back to the server or additional authentication.

"It is envisioned that a single card will be usable for all local travel needs across the country. As apprised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Committee has submitted its report to RBI and is available on the RBI website," she said.