Metro looks to shrink queues with Exact Change Counters

Carry exact change if you want to surpass serpentine queues for tokens to travel on the Delhi Metro network from now on.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has opened dedicated “Exact Change Counters” at 20 stations starting Sunday.

“Only those passengers who bring exact change for purchasing token will be entertained at these counters. These commuters won’t need to stand in queues at manual token counters, and can buy token from Exact Change Counters without any hassle,” said the corporation. “These dedicated counters have been opened to facilitate and encourage passengers to bring exact change while purchasing tokens for Metro travel.”

The counters are operational at New Delhi, Chandni Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, Anand Vihar, Shahdara and HUDA City Centre stations, among others.

Delhi Metro, on an average, faces a demand of approximately 7 lakh coins per day—of Re 1, Rs 2 and Rs 5 denominations. “The DMRC tries to ensure that enough change is available at stations,” it said.

“Despite all efforts, however, only about 4-4.5 lakh coins can be made available at stations on a daily basis, thus creating a big gap between demand and supply,” added the DMRC.

The corporation has also advised commuters to use smart cards instead of tokens. “By using smart card, one can avail a discount of 10 per cent on all travels. It also helps in managing the problem of change at stations,” it said.

The DMRC has installed Point of Sale (POS) machines at 73 stations for passengers to recharge their Metro smart cards using credit or debit cards, eliminating the need to carry cash to ticket counters.

These machines are installed at Dilshad Garden, Seelampur, Rohini West, Rithala, Pitampura, Shastri Nagar, Rohini East, Tis Hazari, Kashmere Gate and Jahangir Puri stations, among others.

The machines are also installed along the Airport Express Line. “These machines are available at Customer Care Centre of these stations,” said the DMRC. At present, about 70 per cent of the total over 26 lakh passengers use smart cards daily.