Published: 01 November 2026
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
DC777 | CO777
| DTD777
The Introduction
One country. Many cities. Countless journeys.
A common mobility card is bringing them closer.
But can the services behind the card travel across cities too?
One NCMC card. One service experience.
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Act 1 — A Common Mobility Vision for
a Diverse Country
Imagine boarding a metro in Bengaluru, taking a city bus in
Chennai, and travelling on another public transport system somewhere else in
India.
Different cities. Different operators. Different journeys.
Yet, increasingly, one common idea connects them: the National
Common Mobility Card (NCMC).
The vision is simple and compelling. A passenger should be
able to use a compatible mobility card across participating public transport
systems, reducing the need to carry separate cards for every journey.
But a mobility card is more than a ticket to enter a station
or board a bus.
It also has a balance to check, a recharge to complete, and
sometimes an online recharge that still needs to be updated on the physical
card.
That brings us to a simple question:
Can the service experience become as common as the mobility
card itself?
A Brief Background — NCMC and MTS-PPIs
The National Common Mobility Card is part of India's broader
effort to make public transport payments more interoperable.
The Reserve Bank of India's framework for Prepaid Payment
Instruments (PPIs) includes a category called Prepaid Payment Instruments for
Mass Transit Systems (MTS-PPIs).
These instruments are designed for automated fare collection
and transit-related payments.
The regulatory framework provides for MTS-PPIs to be used
across various modes of public transport, including metro, buses, rail and
waterways, as well as tolls and parking, subject to applicable conditions.
This creates room for a wider mobility experience.
However, using a card for travel across participating
transport systems and accessing every card-service function across those
systems are not necessarily the same thing.
Travel acceptance, recharge, balance update, balance enquiry
and card servicing may involve different systems, issuers and technical
arrangements.
And it is this distinction that deserves our attention.
Act 2 — Three Passengers. Three
Cities. One Common Question.
The Trigger — A Times of India Report
On 30 October 2026, The Times of India published an article
titled:
“MTC asks conductors to help passengers check NCMC card
balance.”
The report describes how Chennai's Metropolitan Transport
Corporation (MTC) has instructed its branch managers to ensure that bus
conductors assist passengers who approach them for NCMC-related services.
Using their Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs), conductors
can help passengers with recharge, balance updates and checking the available
card balance.
The report also notes that the instruction follows an earlier
Times of India report highlighting the difficulties Chennai Metro commuters
faced in checking their card balances.
It is a useful example of a transport organisation extending
assistance through its existing infrastructure.
And it leads us to a larger question.
If the NCMC vision is national, can the supporting
card-service experience become more interoperable too?
Meet Seeta, Salma and Suzy
Imagine three passengers.
Seeta — Bengaluru
Seeta is travelling on Namma Metro. She carries a Singara
Chennai NCMC card.
The card is accepted for her metro journey. But she has
recently recharged it online and needs to update the balance on the physical
card.
Can she approach a participating Namma Metro TOM counter and
complete that update, even though her card was issued for use in Chennai?
Salma — Chennai
Salma uses her NCMC card across Chennai's public transport
network.
She wants to check the available balance before beginning her
next journey.
Where can she conveniently do so?
Suzy — Another Indian City
Suzy is travelling in another city with an NCMC-enabled
transport system.
She has a card issued elsewhere. She expects the convenience
of a common mobility card, and naturally wonders whether the supporting
services will be equally accessible.
Seeta, Salma and Suzy may never meet.
They may use different transport systems, travel in different
cities and carry cards issued by different institutions.
But their expectations are similar.
They want to travel, recharge, update and check their balances
with as little friction as possible.
Three passengers. Three cities. One common question.
Act 3 — From One Common Card to One
Common Service Experience
The Citizen Observation — Interoperable TOM
Counters
Could India explore a network of Interoperable Ticket Office
Machine (TOM) Counters across participating NCMC-enabled transport systems?
A passenger carrying an eligible NCMC card issued in one city
could approach a participating counter in another city and access supported
card services.
The possibilities could include:
- Balance
enquiry: Check the available balance on the physical card.
- Balance
update: Complete the update of an online recharge, where supported.
- Recharge:
Reload the card through compatible payment and settlement arrangements.
- Card-service
assistance: Obtain basic help with card-related queries and transactions.
An existing example is the RBL Bank Namma Metro NCMC card
service, which describes balance enquiry at a Metro Station Customer Service
Desk using a card reader, alongside other digital and physical card-service
channels.
Could such existing service facilities become a starting point
for exploring wider interoperability?
The idea is to make essential card services more accessible,
even when the passenger is outside the city where the card was issued.
What Could One Common Service Experience Look Like?
A passenger may enter a metro station in one city and board a
bus in another using an NCMC card.
The next step in the journey could be to make essential card
services more accessible beyond the city or system that issued the card.
Could existing TOM counters, ticket vending machines and
compatible card readers become part of a wider interoperable service network?
Could a passenger walk up to a participating counter, tap a
card issued elsewhere and check its balance or complete an eligible balance
update?
The card may be common. Can the service experience be common
too?
What Could Bring the Stakeholders
Together?
An idea of this scale would naturally require participation
from multiple stakeholders.
Transport operators, banks, card issuers, technology partners
and relevant authorities may all have a role to play.
But what could bring them together around this common
objective?
Could a sustained citizen conversation help?
Could more discussions on professional platforms, social
media, public transport forums and industry events bring visibility to the
passenger's experience?
Could a shared recognition emerge that the convenience of an
interoperable mobility card should ideally extend to the essential services
associated with it?
Perhaps the first step is simply to place the idea on the
table.
Can we start a conversation around Interoperable TOM Counters?
Nothing More. Nothing Less.
This observation does not prescribe a particular technology,
operating model or implementation mechanism.
It does not suggest that every transport counter must
immediately support every service across every NCMC card.
It simply proposes exploring the possibility of interoperable
TOM counters so that passengers can access essential card services across
participating transport systems.
The actual implementation approach, technical architecture,
operational arrangements and rollout priorities are best left to the concerned
stakeholders — transport operators, banks, card issuers, technology partners
and relevant authorities.
The suggestion is for a common service experience. The
solution belongs to the stakeholders.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
Closing Thought
Seeta in Bengaluru.
Salma in Chennai.
Suzy somewhere else in India.
Three passengers. Three journeys. One common mobility
aspiration.
The success of a common mobility card is not measured only by
how many gates it can open or how many buses accept it.
It is also reflected in how easily a passenger can manage the
card.
One NCMC card. Many cities. One service experience.
Could interoperable TOM counters help take India's common
mobility journey one step further?
One observation at a time.
April 11 - Digital Transactions Day
(Proposed)
A Small Step Towards April 11
April 11 is proposed as Digital Transaction Day — an
opportunity to recognise the role of thoughtful digital systems in making
everyday experiences simpler, safer and more inclusive.
Mobility is one such everyday experience.
A common card can make travel easier. Interoperable services
can make the journey around that card easier too.
Progress is meaningful when
convenience travels with the citizen.
Disclaimer
This is an independent citizen observation prompted by The
Times of India's report on Chennai MTC's NCMC passenger-assistance initiative,
published on 30 October 2026. Seeta, Salma and Suzy are illustrative
characters.
Interoperable TOM counters are a citizen suggestion for
consideration, not a statement of existing capability or regulatory mandate.
Actual implementation is subject to the assessment and
decisions of the concerned stakeholders, applicable regulations and technical
feasibility.
The Joy of Digital Transactions
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
Advocating Digital Transactions Day (April 11)
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