National Common Mobility Card

Overview

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is a contactless smart card conceived by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ‘One Nation, One Card' vision. It was launched on 4 March 2019. The transit card enables the user to pay for travel, tolls, retail shopping and withdraw money. It is enabled through the RuPay card mechanism. The NCMC card is issuable as a prepaid, debit, or credit RuPay card from partnered banks such as the State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and others.

History

In late 2010, the Government of India envisioned a scheme wherein seamless access could be granted to public transport networks. The system, which later came to be known as Interoperable Fare Management System (IFMS), aimed to let passengers pay across different public transport platforms using one system. This was created as an effort to bring together the public transport system of the country under one umbrella. By making it accessible to every individual in every city, the government aimed to increase ease of access for public transport. The project is also structured in such a way so as to include customers across a wide variety of socioeconomic strata. An additional focus was also put on reducing the transaction time to the minimum, so as to make the payment experience as seamless as possible. It is also structured in such a way so as to reduce the financial risk to the stakeholders involved in the effort. It is designated as an EMV-based Open Loop Payments system. The NCMC is indigenously developed and is part of Make In India project. It was first conceptualized in 2006 as part of the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP). A previous attempt to develop a similar national mobility card led to the development of the More Card. Given its lack of seamless functioning across the nation, Venkaiah Naidu, the then Minister of Urban Development, set up a committee to recommend a card which is inter-operable across different transport systems in the country. The urban development ministry brought in the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) with the task of management, clearing and settlement of payments, simulating cards and terminals and maintenance of network. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has created the reader prototype. On 8 April 2019, The Economic Times reported that Visa was seeking to issue National Common Mobility Cards. Visa announced that it had launched specifications to support the NCMC on 13 May 2019. Visa is ready with the specifications to start issuing cards on the NCMC network and has started discussions with banks to issue their cards on NCMC as well, but it will take some time for the cards to start getting rolled out in the market. Mastercard stated on 22 May 2019 that 15 Indian banks were at "various stages of signing up" for its NCMC. Mastercard is all set to join the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) scheme, just weeks after its biggest competitor Visa said it planned to enter the programme as per Vikas Varma, senior vice-president, account management for South Asia at Mastercard.

Technical details

The NCMC terminal works in a contactless manner using Near Field Communication (NFC). It is an open-loop system i.e. it works with compatible cards from any bank or issuer and does not need a user to buy a specific card. The transaction is fully offline i.e. the terminal does not communicate with bank servers to fetch the balance nor is the PIN required. Normally, a debit/ATM card with a chip is usable at ATMs or Pos Machines by inserting it into the machine and entering the PIN. Recent versions of such cards support contactless transactions using NFC. This method allows transactions up to a certain limit (usually ₹5000 in India) without entering the PIN and up to the same limit as insert-chip method after entering the PIN. This process is online and is initiated by the machine the card is put near to, i.e., the machine communicates with the bank server to fetch the balance and the amount is deducted from the bank account.

Recent versions of such cards have an offline wallet feature as well which leverages NFC to make transactions fully offline without the need of PIN. The transaction limit is lower usually ₹200 per transaction and the wallet can store up to ₹2000. The wallet can be recharged by regular banking channels (Debit Card/Credit Card/ Net Banking), Bharat Bill Payment System or approaching the public transport counter with cash. It can also be topped up using the same card's chip feature which will deduct the amount from the same card's linked bank account. After the transfer is done, the offline wallet needs to perform Balance Update transaction to sync the balance. This is a one time activity and can be done at the designated Transport Operator/Terminal. This means that the same card can be used at:

ATMs with insert method which will debit the money from the linked bank account. IF NFC transactions are enabled on the card: PoS machines in shops, banks, cafes without PIN for smaller transactions, and with PIN for larger transactions. IF the user has activated the offline wallet for the card, has done the card topup and has performed the balance update transaction: Metro gates, public transport buses, parking, etc., without PIN for small transactions. Since enabling NFC for offline NCMC wallet also enabled NFC for online PoS machines, there is a risk of unauthorized transaction on a stolen card. Thus the limit of online NFC transactions should be kept low to prevent transactions without PIN. And the card should be blocked promptly. However, the amount on a stolen NCMC wallet cannot be blocked since the transaction is fully offline. On 1 August 2024, RBL Bank announced integration of National Common Mobility Card and UPI capabilities with RuPay credit cards.

Recharging methods

An NCMC's stored value (the "Transit Wallet" or offline wallet) can generally be topped up through several channels, which vary by issuing bank and by the transit operator's own infrastructure:

Bank and UPI apps — most issuing banks (SBI, Airtel Payments Bank, RBL Bank, Axis Bank, Paytm Payments Bank, and others) allow recharge through their own mobile banking app or net banking portal, typically via UPI, debit card, credit card, or IMPS/NEFT. Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) — NCMC recharge is listed as a biller category on BBPS-integrated apps (including bank apps and third-party UPI apps), allowing top-up up to a bank-specific limit (₹10,000 for the SBI/NPCI BBPS integration) without needing the issuing bank's own app. Third-party payment apps — several NCMC and transit-specific smart cards can also be recharged through consumer apps such as Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, and, on some systems, WhatsApp-based recharge bots. Station/depot counters and machines — cash, card, or UPI recharge is generally available at transit operator ticket counters, Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs), or dedicated Recharge Card Machines (RCMs), which some operators (e.g. Ahmedabad Metro) treat as a separate machine from the TVM used to buy single-journey tickets. In-app or in-card chip top-up — on debit/credit-card variants of the NCMC, some banks allow the card's own linked bank account to top up its offline transit wallet directly via the chip, without a separate recharge transaction. After any online or remote top-up, most systems require the cardholder to tap the card at a station reader or designated "Balance Update" terminal to sync the new balance into the card's offline wallet before it can be spent — since, as noted above, the fare-gate transaction itself is fully offline and cannot read a bank server's balance directly.

Implementation

Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is planning to implement the ambitious scheme in Mumbai suburban railway network in a step towards an integrated ticketing system (ITS). In certain cities such as Bengaluru and Chennai, adoption of NCMC by users of transport systems was slow due to a lack of integration across different modes of transport and parking payments. At the end of 2022, Kolkata had still not seen NCMC deployment in any of its transport modes, and this remained the case as of September 2025: Metro Railway Kolkata, the Indian Railways division that runs the Kolkata Metro, extended the validity of its own closed-loop smart card from one to ten years that month rather than migrating to NCMC, and continues to sell only tokens and its proprietary smart card at stations. Rajya Sabha was informed on 4 December 2023 that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will introduce Open Loop National Common Mobility Cards (NCMC) in a phased manner which will replace the current Closed Loop Delhi Metro Smart Cards. In July 2023, Government of India directed banks to issue NCMC-compliant cards by default to customers. On January 2, 2024, Bank of Baroda announced the introduction of the NCMC RuPay Reloadable Prepaid Card. On February 5, 2024, Federal Bank introduced dual-interface RuPay Debit cards with NCMC integration. For NCMC usage, the maximum top-up limit for the card balance is ₹2,000. Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation intends to gradually replace its closed-loop contactless smartcards with the National Common Mobility Card. PM Modi symbolically inaugurated NCMC acceptance on Namma Metro on 25 March 2023, at the opening of the Whitefield (Kadugodi) extension, with issuance to the general public via RBL Bank beginning 30 March 2023 — a rollout that had already been delayed relative to Delhi, Mumbai and Kochi. Due to the easing of the RBI KYC mandate, AGS Transact Technologies, which is in charge of implementing the NCMC project in Bengaluru, anticipates that the backend process will be prepared for the rollout of NCMCs without KYC verification by the first week of March 2024. The NCMC and FASTag will be incorporated into the e-mandate framework by the RBI from June 2024 to facilitate and ease the process for users to top off their accounts. The NCMC service is about to be introduced in Himachal Pradesh. The State Bank of India (SBI) and the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will work together to launch this service on September 5, 2024. Passengers will be able to use the NCMC card to pay for fare on HRTC buses as well as metro services in places like Bengaluru and Delhi. From August 16, 2024, Srinagar Smart City Limited (SSCL) will offer NCMC service with five percent reduction on the base passenger fare to promote cashless travel. The Chalo App will help users recharge the card balance. A parallel programme under the PM e-Bus Sewa Scheme has since extended a comparable e-bus fleet, operated by Jammu Smart City Limited (JSCL), to Jammu; a Letter of Intent has been issued to Chalo Mobility Private Limited to build an NCMC-compliant digital ticketing solution across both cities' fleets, though live NCMC acceptance on the Jammu fleet had not been confirmed as of September 2026. In July 2025, Mahametro floated a ₹154.30 crore tender to convert its closed loop Maha Card based fare collection system at Nagpur Metro into an open loop system compatible with NCMC services countrywide. The tender, covering an EMV NCMC and QR-code based Automatic Fare Collection system with an accompanying comprehensive annual maintenance contract for Nagpur Metro Phase 2, drew three bidders by late 2025, with the contract to be awarded to the lowest bidder; award of the contract remained pending as of September 2026. Separately, Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) invited tenders in May 2026 to select a financial institution to issue open-loop NCMC cards and provide transaction-acquiring and AFC-integration services for its Bhopal and Indore Metro networks, both of which had already begun partial passenger operations. On 1 April 2026, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) launched an Aadhaar-linked, RuPay On-the-Go NCMC-enabled smart card, initially targeted at concession-category passengers such as students, senior citizens, women and persons with disabilities, with registration and distribution rolled out across MSRTC depots and bus stations statewide. Adoption accelerated through mid-2026: an ₹140 crore contract awarded to Ebix Technologies covers distribution of over 2 crore cards through a 3,000-outlet retail network, making it India's first statewide NCMC rollout, and the card became mandatory (rather than merely available) for all passengers claiming statutory travel concessions, with the compliance deadline pushed from 1 August to 1 September 2026. By August 2026, district-level registration figures in the tens of thousands were being reported from individual depots (e.g. over 71,000 in Chandrapur district, over 33,000 in Bhandara district), with women concession-holders under the state's Mahila Samman Yojana forming the largest share of registrants.

Bharat Bill Payment System integration

The National Common Mobility Card has been integrated into the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) through a partnership between NPCI and SBI. The SBI NCMC for Noida Metro, Nagpur Metro, MMRDA Line 2A and Line 7, Chennai Metro, Kanpur Metro, and Parliament Canteen is operational on BBPS. Customers can top up their cards with up to ₹10,000 online with the addition of NCMC Recharge in the biller category. To update the balance after the recharge, users need to tap their NCMC on the terminal.

NCMC Smartwatch

At the Global Fintech Fest 2024, Airtel Payments Bank, in collaboration with Noise and the NPCI, launched a smartwatch that incorporates RuPay chip embedded in the dial, enabling direct payments. Tap-and-pay transactions are made easier by the smartwatch's support for National Common Mobility Card technology. Users can pay at a variety of retail sites and public transportation hubs, including as bus stops, metro stations, and parking lots. Users may choose between contactless purchases and monthly passes on the device, as well as handle transportation concessions. A PIN is required to conduct transactions over ₹5,000, whereas transactions under this amount can be performed without one. According to the revised RBI guidelines, Ongo Ride prepaid card does not require complete KYC in order to make transit payments.

Offline support

In order to provide a smooth, offline payment option for all NCMC-enabled transit projects, such as metro rails, buses, ferries, tolls, and parking throughout India, the State Bank of India released the MTS RuPay NCMC prepaid card on August 30, 2024. Travelers can now easily make payments, even in places with spotty internet access.

Concerns

In Guwahati, the NCMC was introduced on January 1, 2024. However, before the card can be made publicly available, there are issues with its rollout that need to be resolved. Initially it is available at limited locations such as the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) counter at Paltan Bazar, ASTC counter at the Inter State Bus Terminal, the Rupnagar ASTC Yard, and the ASTC Kiosk at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport. Essential documents like an Aadhaar, an Aadhaar-linked phone number, and an OTP verification are also needed for the card's issuance as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement. Due to poor adoption rate, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed KYC requirement for NCMC with a ₹3,000 limit as of February 23, 2024. This should make it possible for more of these cards to be issued and used.

Acceptance

According to Mumbai Metro, as of December 14, 2023, all fare collection gates on the stations along the Line 1, Line 2, and Line 7 have been upgraded to be NCMC compliant. Commencing in June 2024, commuters of Chennai Metro and other NCMC holders are also able to pay for and ride on Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses. According to the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, discussions are already taking place with the Southern Railway zone authorities on implementing the NCMC in trains as well in the near future. Ongo, the digital payments platform of AGS Transact Technologies, has introduced an instant National Common Mobility Card 'Ongo Ride' in conjunction with the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) on 14 August 2024. At 12 CMRL metro stations in Chennai, Ongo has installed special card dispensers with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) feature to enable these ready-to-use Ongo Ride cards. By integrating payments at parking lots and toll booths with multiple modes of transportation, such as metros, buses, and water ferries, Ongo Ride provides commuters with a single, integrated payment solution. By September 2026, the number of Indian cities where NCMC could be used for both metro rail and city bus travel on a single card had grown to include Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Bengaluru — Mumbai's Metro Lines 1, 2A, 3 and 7 and BEST buses all accept the same card, and Bengaluru added NCMC acceptance on its city bus network in 2026. The tables below organise every identified Indian public transport system by level of governance and operation — Urban & Suburban (city-run metro rail, metropolitan bus systems, monorail, tram, ropeway, and water metro/ferry networks, together with suburban rail services, since these function as part of a single metropolitan region's transport network rather than as national services), Regional (multi-district, interstate, or union-territory-wide systems — chiefly inland and inter-island water transport, and interstate rapid-rail corridors such as NCRTC's Namo Bharat — that are not confined to a single urban area and are not road-based State Road Transport Corporation networks), Statewide (State Road Transport Corporation bus networks and equivalent state undertakings), and National (long-distance services operated by Indian Railways or by other central-government rail undertakings) — noting which currently accept the NCMC, which are actively piloting, upgrading or tendering towards acceptance (highlighted in yellow), and which do not accept it at all and have no publicly confirmed pilot under way (highlighted in red). Only systems that are operational or under construction are listed; systems still at the planning, approval, or proposal stage are excluded. This is not an exhaustive account of every fare-collection system in the country — in particular, several smaller state and union-territory road transport undertakings are not individually listed, for the reasons set out in the note at the head of § Statewide systems — and editors should verify current status against operator announcements and the NPCI RuPay On-the-Go live members list before relying on it.

Urban & Suburban systems

City-run metro rail, metropolitan bus, monorail, tram, ropeway, and water metro/ferry networks, and suburban rail services (which, though sometimes operated by Indian Railways zones, function as part of a single city's urban transport network rather than as national or interstate services). Interstate/regional rapid transit corridors are listed separately under § Regional systems.

Regional systems

Multi-district, interstate, or union-territory-wide transit systems that are not confined to a single urban area (and so do not fit Urban & Suburban) and are not road-based State Road Transport Corporation networks (and so do not fit Statewide). This includes inland and inter-island water transport, and interstate/regional rapid transit rail corridors serving a wider region rather than a single metropolitan area.