Bengaluru: Seven months after making the announcement, BMTC is finally launching its smart card in collaboration with Axis bank. The card, apart from paying for commuters’ bus ticket, can also be used for other purposes.

“We will launch the pilot in the coming week. This can be used like an ATM card too. We are pricing it only at Rs 5, so acquiring it does not become an obstacle for commuters,” said BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur. While the plastic cards itself costs more, they have subsidised it to make it affordable for commuters.

“It is a one-time investment and we will recover the costs later. For the trial phase, the card will only be used for bus tickets. Depending on the response, it will be integrated with the Metro card, Ola and Uber rides. It can also be used for shopping, groceries, ATM withdrawals etc. It will become an open-loop card," Ms Caur said.

BMTC IT Director Bishwajit Mishra said, “There have been many challenges over the months to make the integrated smart card possible. The National Payment Corporation of India is also working on open loop smart card. It is the first time anything of this sort has been tried in the country.”

Some of the challenges, he said, were ensuring that the card transactions do not interfere with each other. Electronic ticketing machines will have SIM cards to provide internet while swiping the card even while inside a depot. Much like a driving licence, the person's name, photo and other details will be on the card, Ms Caur said.

“For the initial test, recharge centres for the smart card will be at major bus stands like Majestic, Shivajinagar, KR Market etc. Later, it will be expanded to online recharges and shops where mobile SIM cards are charged," a BMTC official said.