BENGALURU: In some good news for Namma Metro commuters, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Monday announced that the validity of the last top-up done on smart cards has been extended by 10 years, up to 2030. This came into effect from September 19. Earlier, validity after recharging Contactless Smart Cards would last only a year.
“Due to Metro operations being suspended for nearly five-and-a-half months due to pandemic, some commuters who could not top-up their cards are experiencing problems due to expiry of validity of smart cards,” an official release stated. There will now be no need to pay any card reactivation charges at Metro stations for expired cards, it added.
B L Yashvanth Chavan, Chief Public Relations Officer, BMRCL, said, “In line with the SOP in place for Metro travel, anyone who has topped up their card recently, has to either travel by Metro or get their card validated at any station within seven days. This ten-year period will come into effect from the date of validation of the travel card.” The BMRCL has also urged card holders to top-up their cards using netbanking or the Namma Metro app.