The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC) has been working on expanding its line across the planned third phase. However, on the side, the organisation is also working on making the transportation smooth by introducing card recharges through Paytm.
The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) issued prepaid payment instruments for Mass Transit Systems on 20th February, and the license will be valid till 31st March 2022. This allows DMRC to start its own E-wallet service for travellers.
This is the biggest payments opportunity for any entity because it gives the company or the organisation the right to set up and execute a payments solution service. Through DMRC’s digital wallet, users can reload up to Rs. 2,000 and enjoy minimum validity period of six months from the date of issue.
“In the process of moving from cash based payments to electronic payments, the migration of micro and small value cash payments can play a significant role in achieving the vision of less-cash society. One such area where a large number of small value cash payments take place relates to mass transit systems,” the RBI said in a statement last year.
So DMRC can now also launch its own digital wallet. This means that users will be able to avail discounts on the rides, use the money at metro stations and send money to each other through the app.
There are a few restrictions in RBI’s proposal
The wallets designed for mass transit systems can only hold up to Rs. 2,000. However, there is no facility to withdraw cash or get a refund from these wallets. The wallet can only be used at merchants that are within the premises of the DMRC metro stations.
DMRC can get to decide upon the desired level of KYC from the user. However, since you can’t extract money from the card, then it is almost useless unless you can withdraw money from ATMs or other sources.
With Paytm also looking to become a source of payments across every merchant, it will get difficult for DMRC to make its own wallet prominent. This wallet is restricted only to DMRC’s premises, which is the biggest drawback and can go against the organisation.
DMRC also recently announced that it will no longer allow refund from metro cards, which means any money stores in metro’s card will remain there forever, causing a loss to the user if he/she is not using the transport service.
Source: RBI
