No free bus travel for women in Delhi without Pink Saheli smart card from August 1

Woman passengers will not be able to avail free bus service in Delhi from August 1, as the government has made the ‘Pink Saheli’ smart card mandatory for such travel, officials said on Friday.

Concerned over the slow adoption of the Pink Saheli card by women commuters, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has also launched a special drive across its buses advising women to get the cards, an official statement said.

“With effect from August 1, pink tickets shall be issued only to those women passengers who have a valid Pink Saheli smart card, which they need to tap at the time of boarding. These passengers will continue to avail free bus service as per the terms of the scheme,” the DTC said in its order.

According to officials, it has been decided to gradually phase out the existing paper-based pink ticket and shift to a smart card-based system for availing the benefit of free bus travel.

“From August 1, women passengers who do not have a Pink Saheli card shall not be issued pink tickets and shall be required to purchase normal tickets by paying the applicable fare for travelling in DTC and DoT (Cluster) buses,” the order said.

The Delhi government has set up 50 authorised centres across the city to facilitate the issuance of Pink Saheli smart cards, the order said.

“All eligible women under the scheme may obtain the Pink Saheli smart card from the notified centres, counters as per the directions issued by the transport department and DTC from time to time,” it added.

So far, around 11 lakh cards have been distributed across the city, and the government aims to increase the figures to 13 lakh by the end of July, after which the card will be made mandatory.