India’s first FASTag cashless parking facility has been launched at Kashmere Gate metro station in Delhi by the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC). Inaugurated by Dr Mangu Singh, MD, in the presence of senior officials of DMRC and NRCI, the parking facility accepts payments via the unified payments interface (UPI) mode.
“For the first time in the country, a FASTag/UPI based cashless parking facility was launched on Tuesday at the Kashmere Gate Metro Station by Dr Mangu Singh, MD, DMRC in the presence of senior officials of Delhi Metro Railway Corporation and National Payments Corporation of India,” the DMRC stated.
This cashless FASTag system is a DMRC’s initiative in addition to the multimodal integration (MMI) of intermediate public transport (IPT) services that secure the free movements of autorickshaws, e-rickshaws and taxis.
“The cashless parking project is a one-step forward as part of the government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative,” the DMRC chief Mangu Singh was quoted as stating. “We have taken this up as a pilot project. The public’s response to this system will help us plan and deploy similar systems at more parking facilities of Delhi metro stations.”
These facilities have been finally introduced, aiming to help commuters travel with ease to and from the Kashmere Gate station that majorly connects an inter-bus terminus (ISBT) and numerous offices present between Yellow and Violet lines.
Placed at gate no 6 of Kashmere Gate Metro Station, the digital parking facility has a capacity of accommodating about 55 four-wheelers and 174 two-wheelers. The DMRC clarified that two-wheelers could use their DMRC smart card for parking. The swipe of a smart card will be used to register a commuter’s entry, exit and fare calculation, and no money will be charged for only two-wheelers. However, bearing FASTag will be mandatory for the vehicles issuing to avail this cashless parking facility.
For two-wheelers, the parking charges can be paid by scanning a QR-code via UPI-based apps like Paytm. The officials also said that two-wheeler commuters could also make the payment through the DMRC and the National Common Mobility Card in the future. Still, this facility is not available as of yet.
