CHENNAI: Months after the arrest of five persons, including four Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) workers, for selling bogus Rs 1,000 ‘Travel as you please’ (TAYP) monthly concessional tickets, the MTC is planning to introduce unique security codes — 3D holographic or QR — to authenticate the tickets, according to official sources.
“A 3D holographic code or QR code or barcode would be introduced in the plastic card to improve the authenticity of the monthly ticket. A scanner or reader will be fitted into the Electronic Ticket Machines (ETMs) carried by conductors. The proposal is being finalised,” said a senior MTC official, who recently attended a meeting with transport department officials.Currently, MTC issues a multi-colour paper card for Rs 1,000 TAYP tickets along with ID card for passengers, which contain the unique ID number and a photograph of passengers. The ID card number is written on TAYP ticket during renewal.
After the fare hike, the MTC had directed conductors to verify whether the card number mentioned in the ticket matched the ID card number.The decision was taken after MTC officials detected a number of cases related to misuse of the facility. Apart from passengers, a considerable number of serving and retired MTC workers were also found to have been involved in the scam.
“In most of the cases, pictures of original ticket holders were replaced with those of other passengers. In some cases, fake TAYP tickets were sold to passengers. The unique security code would fix all the loopholes in the system,” sources said.In July 2017, Chennai Police arrested five persons, including four MTC workers, who were posted at Anna Nagar and Tiruvanmiyur counters, for selling bogus TAYP tickets. They have been charged with creating bogus MTC TAYP tickets using computers and colour xerox machines and siphoning off the money paid by passengers.
Official sources said it hardly costs Rs 50 to Rs 70 to create a fake paper card of the passes. In addition to the monthly season tickets, the daily and weekly season tickets also had been misused heavily. “Sale of weekly tickets would resume only after introducing the security code for the tickets or with revision of fares,” the officer said.
However, a section of MTC officials said such a move would cost the corporation several lakhs additionally and will be financially viable only if the cost of the monthly tickets were increased from Rs 1,500 to Rs 1,800.After the bus fare hike on January 20, nearly 85,000 TAYP monthly tickets had been sold in Chennai from February 7 to 21, as against 60,000 in January.
No cheating
The proposed monthly pass will have 3D holographic code, which cannot be duplicated or will have a QR code
Plan to fix QR code scanner in ticket machines used by conductors
This is to prevent printing of bogus ID cards and passes, which can be made by taking the colour xerox and replacing the face of commuters
In July 2017, four MTC workers arrested for selling bogus passes made using colour xerox machines
Sale of weekly and daily passes scrapped mainly due to alleged misuse