Delhi Metro cards non-refundable from April 1

From April, when a commuter returns his or her Metro smart card to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), the unused balance in the card will not be refunded, the Corporation said Tuesday, citing Reserve Bank of India guidelines.

A DMRC spokesperson said, “All smart cards sold on April 1 or after shall be non-refundable. All cards sold before April 1Currently, while returning a smart card, a commuter receives the amount of unused money in the card and Rs 30 security deposit. The total amount taken as security money at the time of purchase of the card is Rs 50, from which a nominal Rs 20 processing fee is deducted on surrender of the card.

April onwards, only Rs 30 will be returned to a commuter and the remaining balance in the card, if any, will be forfeited as per the July 2016 guidelines of the RBI. Unreadable or dysfunctional cards will be dealt with on a case-by-case manner.

The DMRC spokesperson, however, said, “Customers have time to get back refunds on their cards between March 1 and March 31, which has been declared as the sunset period, before the RBI guidelines come into place on April 1.”

Under subhead 7, Prepaid Payment Instruments for Mass Transit System, the RBI guidelines say, “A new category of semi-closed Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) is being introduced. No cash-out or refund will be permitted from these PPIs.” will also become non-refundable from April 1.”