In a step that takes Mumbai closer to having a common transport card, similar to London’s Oyster cards, the Metro Blue Line 1 has updated the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) system to accept existing metro cards (closed-loop) and common mobility cards (NCMC open loop) through a single card reader. All AFC gates on the city’s oldest Metro line will accept both cards, thus facilitating around 7,000 transactions daily.

The National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) can be used on multiple transport services across the country and even at outlets. The card is in use on the Mumbai Metro Yellow Line and Red Line 7, BEST buses, Airport Express line of Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Namma Metro and Ahmedabad Metro. The NCMC, an inter-operable transport card conceived by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, was launched on March 4, 2019.