PM Modi has officially announced the launch of National Common Mobility Card, which has been described as ‘One Nation, One Card’ by the Govt.
Now, Indian citizens can travel, withdraw money, pay parking fee, toll fee, shop online, pay at merchants using one single card.
This will be powered by RuPay, and one single card can be used anywhere in the nation – Be it Jaunpur in UP or Kolhapur in Maharashtra; Kohima in Nagaland or Bhuj in Gujarat.
While announcing the launch in Ahmedabad, PM Modi said, “This card runs on RuPay card and it will eliminate all your travel related problems. Many times, we do not have change to pay in cash while traveling in metro, bus or train, or for toll and parking. To overcome this issue, an automatic fare collection system was introduced,”
One Nation, One Card: How Will It Work?
National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) has been fully developed in India, and a platform has been created wherein every existing debit/credit card can be used as NCMC everywhere.
It can be used for:
- Metro travel across India (just use this card to enter/exit any metro station)
- Train tickets (book train tickets online or at counters using one single card)
- Air tickets
- At every ATM to withdraw cash
- Shopping online
- Paying offline merchants
- Parking fees
- Toll fees
- Bus travel
- And more
From henceforth, all new debit/credit cards will be equipped with NCMC features by default. Banks, Ministry of Finance and other Govt. departments are right now working to enable all existing debit/credit cards to work as National Common Mobility Card (NCMC).
This can be treated as mobile wallet as well, albeit on a national scale, for every form of Digital payment.
The official statement said, “All new credit and debit cards issued by most banks have the National Common Mobility Card feature to make payments for their travel. This is like any other wallet,”
One Common Card For All Digital Payments
As per NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, right now several Govt. agencies and private entities which include Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, banks, and Urban Development Ministry and working together to make it happen.
Delhi Metro has already started testing automatic fare collection counters (AFCs), which can accept these National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), and enable seamless entry and exit of passengers using one single card – This can be passengers’ existing debit/credit card or Delhi Metro smart card.
As per PM Modi, the technology for creating one single card for all digital payments was previously imported, which made it unfeasible for India. However, the technology has been now created in India, and will soon create a common platform for all Indians.
We will keep you updated, as we receive more updates.