Beginning from Wednesday, June 11, travellers on the partially-operated subterranean Aarey-JVLR to Acharya Atre Chowk Metro 3 line will now be able to use their National Common Mobility Card or NCMC. The Mumbai Metro 3 route was built, run and also maintained by the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC).
On the morning of Tuesday, June 10th, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, introduced the National Common Mobility Card, also known as the single mobility card. Instead of standing in queue and waiting at the ticket kiosks before each metro journey, passengers can now easily just use their contactless cards to tap their way between Aarey-JVLR and Acharya Atre Chowk in Worli.
The ticketing systems that have been put in place to benefit and allow passengers to use the NCMC card will now be available on Metro 1 (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar), Metro 2A (Dahisar East-Andheri West), and Metro 7 (Dahisar East-Gundavali). Additionally, BEST Undertaking’s licensed Chalo Bus also accepts the same card. Suburban trains and the Mumbai Monorail are still outside of NCMC’s purview and there are no imminent plans to take the card up until now.
There are plans to create a single mobility app that can allow the users who will be travelling to buy the tickets for different types of transportation. This was supposed to launch on May 1st but then it has been deferred for an unspecified later date.
With effect from June 11, current NCMC cardholders can keep using their cards and new cardholders can also buy an NCMC card at any Mumbai Metro 3 station, including the Aarey-JVLR and Acharya Atre Chowk stations as well as affiliated State Bank of India offices.
According to an MMRC official, “these cards are free to use, but they require a minimum top-up of ₹100 and a maximum top-up of ₹2000 for travel purposes.”
“Integration of the NCMC card with Mumbai Metro 3 marks a significant milestone in our journey towards smart and commuter-friendly urban transport. As the city’s first fully underground metro corridor, line 3 is designed with future-ready infrastructure and this seamless contactless payment solution is a vital part of that vision. We are pleased to partner with NPCI and SBI to enable a unified, convenient travel experience for Mumbaikars and support the Government of India’s National Common Mobility Card initiative,” said Ashwini Bhide, managing director, MMRC, in a statement.
According to senior officials at MMRC, “the Metro 3 corridor is equipped with future-ready infrastructure that supports digital and contactless solutions. The deployment of the NCMC card system complements this infrastructure and aims to offer a user-centric transit experience, particularly as the city transitions toward a net-zero carbon model for mobility. This service upgrade comes at a time when Indian cities are under increased pressure to modernise their transport systems to cope with rising population density, pollution levels, and road congestion. By enabling seamless switching between different metro lines and public transport services, the NCMC card helps reduce travel delays and encourages broader adoption of public transit.”
Although this is a positive development, industry experts and transportation planners concurred that it will not be able to reach its full potential until suburban rail and the monorail system are combined. And for Mumbai to have a fully integrated mobility framework,all the urban transport providers will have to use the same payment method. Mumbai is one of several Indian cities moving towards smarter, contactless, commuter-focused transit with the incorporation of NCMC into Metro 3. Initiatives like this helps in fixing the gap between sustainability and convenience as digital payments become increasingly important to how people use urban infrastructure.