Delhi Metro opens 'exact change counters'

The Delhi Metro Sunday opened 'exact change counters' at 20 stations for passengers who bring the exact ticket amount, an official statement said, adding this will ease queuing at the ticket counters.

It has also installed point of sale (POS) machines to facilitate cashless transactions at 73 stations.

"At the exact change counters, only those passengers who bring exact change for purchasing token for their destination station will be entertained. This will avoid any queuing or waiting time for these passengers," a Delhi Metro statement said.

These 20 stations are: New Delhi, Chandni Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Anand Vihar, Shahdara, HUDA City Centre, Jahangirpuri, Uttam Nagar East, Saket, Dilshad Garden, Kashmere Gate, Badarpur, AIIMS, Vaishali, Karol Bagh, Seelampur, M.G. Road, NOIDA City Centre, R. K. Ashram and Dwarka Mor.

The statement said Delhi Metro on an average faces a demand of approximately Rs.7 lakh coins per day, and to supply this to passengers, it tries to ensure that enough change is available at the stations.

"However, despite all efforts, only about Rs.4 to 4.5 lakh coins can be made available to the stations on a daily basis. These exact change counters, therefore, are a step towards encouraging passengers to bring exact change for buying tokens."

Additionally, the POS machines at 73 stations including all stations of the Airport Express Line aim to facilitate cashless transaction for passengers, who wish to recharge their smart cards by using credit or debit cards.

These stations also include Rithala, Rajiv Chowk, Huda City Centre, Saket, Pragati Maidan, Nawada, Akshardham, NOIDA City Centre, Vaishali, Rajouri Garden and Nehru Place.

"These machines are available at the customer care centre of these metro stations and passengers can easily get their smart cards recharged by using their credit/debit cards...," the statement said.

Presently, about 70 percent of Metro passengers are smart card users.