The Delhi government’s free bus travel scheme for women will continue as before, but with some important changes.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta has announced that women who are residents of Delhi will be eligible for free bus travel, but there are new conditions to avail of the facility.
New Registration Requirement
From now on, only women who are residents of Delhi will be able to benefit from the free bus service in the city. Additionally, Delhi women must register to receive this benefit.
This means that women from other states will not be eligible for the free service. To simplify travel, the government will issue lifetime smart cards for eligible women.
Lifetime Smart Card
To get the lifetime smart card, women will need to register soon, and the process will be starting shortly.
Until now, women had to buy pink tickets to travel for free on Delhi’s DTC buses.
With the introduction of the smart card, women will no longer need to purchase pink tickets repeatedly, making travel more convenient.
Ending “Pink Corruption”
This change follows an assembly statement by CM Rekha Gupta, in which she accused the previous AAP government of corruption in the pink ticket system.
Gupta stated, “We are committed to providing this service to women, but corruption will not be tolerated.
We will introduce digital travel cards for women, eliminating the ‘pink corruption’ associated with physical tickets.”
She emphasized that the new digital cards would bring transparency and reduce irregularities in the ticketing process, making the system more efficient.
Background of Free Bus Service
The Pink Ticket scheme was initially launched in 2019 by the AAP government on Bhai Dooj, allowing women to travel for free on Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.
Under this scheme, women were given pink tickets for single journeys, each priced at ₹10, a cost the Delhi government covered.
The bus companies were compensated based on the number of tickets issued. This initiative has significantly increased the number of women passengers in Delhi’s government buses.
With the new system of lifetime smart cards, the government aims to streamline and modernize the process, ensuring greater efficiency and transparency for women commuters in Delhi.
