India: Kamal Nath Launches the National Common Mobility Card

The Union Minister for Urban Development, Shri Kamal Nath
launching the Common Mobility card ‘More”, at the
Urban Mobility India Conference 2011, in New Delhi on December 06, 2011.

The Union Minister for Urban Development Shri Kamal Nath today launched the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), by the name ‘More’, on the concluding day of the four day Urban Mobility India 2011 Conference-Cum-Exhibition.

The brand name has been chosen “More” signifying the national bird “Peacock” as also literally in English meaning ‘more’ to convey that you get more and more by using this card.

The idea of NCMC is to promote the user to perceive it as a single transport system and provide the commuter with a seamless, efficient and hassle free travel experience across the length and breadth of the country. Seamless connectivity across multiple modes of transportation will increase the popularity and acceptability of public transport nationally and make public transport more appealing to the end user. The Ministry of Urban Development, under the National Urban Transport Policy, envisages a single ticketing system over not only all modes of public transport in India but also for parking and toll. For this purpose, it is spearheading a national program of inter-operable Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) systems. This means that a single CMC card can be used across cities and different modes of transport. The implementation of ‘More’ will be partly funded by Central Government under the JnNURM scheme covering the buses sanctioned under the scheme.

It is hoped that NCMC would benefit the Public Transport Organisations by significantly increasing overall efficiency; provide control and better management of tariff structure; reduce cash handling and hence lesser pilferage & fraud; better planning based on passenger statistics. To roll-out the card on all India basis, to ensure the standardization of the CMC Project, UTI Infrastructure Technology and Services Limited (UTIITSL) has been appointed as the technology aggregator to implement the CMC project. UTIITSL is a Government of India, Ministry of Finance Company. So far Agreement has been signed with JCTSL, Jaipur and by the end of this financial year, roll-out in Jaipur is anticipated. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore and Bhopal Municipal Corporation are also at advance stage of entering into the agreement. A Task Force has been set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary (UD) for taking it in Mission Mode.

Addressing the gathering, Sh Kamal Nath said that challenges of resource crunch and service delivery have to be met, to provide better transportation methods for the growing urban population. He said development has to precede growth. The Minister emphasised that out of the box thinking is required to solve mobility issues. Innovative financing mechanisms under PPP mode, land monetization to raise extra budgetary resources is the need of the hour, he stated. The Minister also honoured exemplary work shown by State organizations and gave away Awards for Excellence in Urban Transport, on the occasion,

In the category of Best PPP Initiative in urban transport, Bhopal Municipal Corporation won the award. Graduates Welfare Association, Fazilka won the award for their project of Fazilka Ecocabs dial-a-rickshaw. Award for Best Clean Development Mechanism Project for modal shift was won by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Pune Commissionerate of Police were awarded in the category of Best Intelligent Transport System Project (runners up). For New Initiative in Traffic Engineering and Management, the Joint winners were also Pune Commissionerate of Police and Karnataka Commissionerate of Bangalore. The Mumbai Air Traffic Control System was awarded in the Commendable Emerging Initiatives Category. For Inclusive development KSRTC were awarded for Introduction of Modern City Bus Service in Tumkur. ------PIB