Malfunctioning pink tickets cause chaos for women commuters, bus conductors in Delhi

Women travelling in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses are facing significant hurdles due to malfunctioning Pink Saheli smart cards, forcing many to pay a replacement fee of ₹60 for new ones. Meanwhile, DTC bus conductors remain equally confused over whether to allow women without valid smart cards to travel for free or ask them to pay, citing conflicting instructions from different depot managements.

The Delhi government introduced the smart cards in March this year, making them mandatory for women to access free travel. Officially, the older paper tickets were supposed to be discontinued on October 1. However, due to non-functioning cards and varying instructions across depots, some bus conductors continue to issue paper tickets while others ask women to pay.

For women whose cards fail, the Electronic Ticketing Machine (ETM) fails to link and displays a ‘check validity’ prompt. Beneficiaries are being asked to get their cards replaced at the depot.

Commuters struggle

“I had to get a new card made after paying the amount. However, as per rules, you are supposed to pay this fee if you have lost your card or the card is damaged. Why should I pay if the original card never worked properly? Shouldn’t it be replaced free of cost?” said Raunak, a student from Delhi University’s Deshbandhu College. For Ms. Raunak, the card worked in some buses and not in others.

For Antara, another student, the card never worked at all. “I, too, had to get it made again even though it never worked for me. The staff at Netaji Subhash Place depot said I might have damaged it, spilled water on it accidentally. That never happened. Why can’t they check the cards before dispensing them?” she said.

Meanwhile, amid technical issues, the drastic reduction in card-issuing hubs from 70 to 38 across the city has resulted in long queues.

Conductors confused

The DTC Karamchari Ekta Union wrote to the DTC Managing Director Niharika Rai seeking clarification concerning pink tickets and the use of smart cards.

“There is a lack of consistency in the instructions being issued by officials across various depots, as well as by the checking staff. In some instances, conductors are instructed to issue a manual pink ticket if the ETM malfunctions, while in others, they are directed to print a machine-generated ‘free ticket’ without a valid card,” the complaint letter said.

“These inconsistencies are resulting in conductors being held responsible, with some depots demanding a recall of all manually given pink tickets and others prompting reports against conductors,” it said.

“In some cases, the cards don’t work properly. The ETMs don’t capture the card properly. The fault could be with the machines, but they work without cards also. We have no option but to ask women to pay, as otherwise we would be held responsible,” a conductor from Manglapuri depot said.