New Delhi, Jan 15 (IANS) In a few months, Delhi Metro commuters will not have to stand in long queues to get their smart cards recharged with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) planning to introduce new automatic fare collection gates where the cards can also be topped up.

According to DMRC, when the balance of a smart card goes below the prescribed minimum amount, the new Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates will add a pre-defined amount to the card. This amount will be collected from the card holder’s bank account.

“DMRC is planning to procure automatic fare collection gates, which will have the capacity of automatic topping-up of smart cards through the bank accounts of card holders via electronic clearance system (ECS),” a DMRC official said.

Explaining how the new system will work, the official said: “If one needs to avail this automatic recharge facility, they will be asked to fill a form giving their bank details and account number. They should also specify the minimum recharge amount.”

“It is expected that this facility will be made available to the commuters in another seven to eight months,” the official said.

At present, tokens and smart cards can be purchased or recharged only by paying cash at specified counters, machines or customer care centres at Metro stations.

“The new facility will not only help people avoid unnecessary long queues, it also aims to reduce cash transactions at the ticket counters,” the official said.

At present, over 61 lakh Metro smart cards are in the circulation on the 190 km DMRC network. Around 12,000 Metro smart cards and about 6.5 lakh tokens are sold each day.

“The smart cards are very popular as DMRC is providing 10 percent discount on fares on use of these cards and many stations have dedicated exit gates for card users,” the official added.

As of now, the Delhi Metro makes over 2,400 trips per day, traversing about 70,000 km and carrying around 1.8 million passengers on working days. By 2016, it is expected to carry about four million passengers daily.