KOCHI: Kochi Metro Rail Limited will start issuing new and upgraded Kochi One cards from all Metro stations from November. There have been complaints that the multipurpose Kochi One cards are not functioning in the swiping machines of commercial establishments. “The cards are not faulty, but they have to be upgraded. More than one lakh cards are ready which are being upgraded. At present, cards are issued from only four Metro stations. By next month, Kochi-1 cards will be issued from all stations,” said a KMRL spokesperson. More than 6000 cards have already been issued.
The Axis bank – KMRL co-branded card, which can be used for other modes of public transport at a later stage, is the country’s first open metro card system to facilitate seamless travelling. KMRL is giving a discount of up to 20 per cent for commuters who are using the Kochi – 1 card. Axis Bank has partnered with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in developing the prepaid card which has integrated benefits and offers a plethora of services to commuters. The Kochi-1 card uses chip-card technology for making payments which is popularly referred to as EMV (Europay, MasterCard, and Visa), a technical standard for smart cards. KMRL also has plans to introduce a system called ‘Click and Collect’ wherein the merchandise ordered by a person through the card is made available in Metro stations itself.
