BENGALURU: BMTC’s smart card passes are facing some teething troubles and this is causing inconvenience to students. Many students complain that they are forced to skip classes to get the smart card passes as the counters issuing these are closed on Sundays and general holidays. On Saturdays, long queues are seen in front of the counters as issuing a single smart card takes around 20 minutes.
While BMTC claims that they are issuing passes from 6.30am to 9pm at major bus stations, including Majestic, students say that most counters are functioning only between 8am and 5pm.
Aravind V, a college student who came to get a smart card from Majestic bus terminus, said: “On Saturday, I was standing in a queue from 12pm to 3pm. Later, they stopped issuing smart card passes and asked us to come the next day. So I skipped my classes on Wednesday to get the pass. I cannot afford regular tickets because it is expensive.”
Some students complain that there was delay in issuing passes this year. BMTC started issuing smart card passes only from June 17. “BMTC should either issue passes from June first week or set up counters at respective educational institutions. Some staffers are also very rude when we ask them to clear our doubts,” said Reshma S, another student.
There are also complaints that some BMTC bus conductors claim that electronic ticketing machines are dysfunctional or unavailable, forcing the students to buy regular tickets. However, some conductors are now allowing students to travel after they produce the new smart card.
Also, some students say that the pass forms downloaded from the BMTC website are not being accepted at the counters.
When contacted, a senior BMTC official said they are launching the smart cards for students for the first time. “There are some delays and technical issues since it is the first of its kind. But we will look into these issues and sort it out shortly. We are issuing smart cards at 35 counters across the city for the benefit of the students.”