NEW DELHI: Women commuters in Delhi will have to carry the newly introduced Pink Saheli smart card to continue availing free travel on bus service from August 1, with the government set to phase out the existing paper-based pink tickets.The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on Friday announced that only women passengers with a valid Pink Saheli card will be eligible for the free bus service under the scheme.“With effect from August 1, pink tickets shall be issued only to those women passengers who have a valid Pink Saheli smart card, which they need to tap at the time of boarding. These passengers will continue to avail free bus service as per the terms of the scheme,” the DTC said in its order.Officials said the government has decided to gradually replace the paper-ticket system with a smart card-based mechanism to streamline the implementation of the free travel scheme.Under the revised system, women who fail to obtain the Pink Saheli card before the deadline will have to pay the standard fare for travel in DTC and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) cluster buses.“From August 1, women passengers who do not have a Pink Saheli card shall not be issued pink tickets and shall be required to purchase normal tickets by paying the applicable fare for travelling in DTC and DoT (Cluster) buses,” the order said.Amid concerns over the slow adoption of the scheme, the DTC has launched a special awareness drive across its buses, urging women passengers to apply for the smart card at the earliest.To facilitate registrations, the Delhi government has established 50 authorised centres across the city where eligible women can apply for the Pink Saheli card.“All eligible women under the scheme may obtain the Pink Saheli smart card from the notified centres, counters as per the directions issued by the transport department and DTC from time to time,” it added.According to officials, nearly 11 lakh Pink Saheli cards have already been distributed, and the government aims to raise the number to 13 lakh by the end of July, ahead of the scheme becoming mandatory.(With PTI inputs)
