Metro Rail Cards Can Be Recharged Online from Tuesday

A new initiative will make travelling on the Metro Rail more convenient. Passengers will no longer need to stand in line at stations; cards can now be recharged from home. From Tuesday (25 November), rapid pass and MRT pass cards can be recharged online.

Rezaul Karim Siddiqui, Senior Information Officer at the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, said the online recharge service will be inaugurated at Agargaon Metro Station at 10:45 am on Tuesday. Sheikh Moinuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser at the Ministry, will attend as the chief guest.

Under the new DTC authority system, users must first register and log in on the website or mobile app. They can select whether to recharge a rapid pass or MRT pass, and then complete the payment using bank cards or mobile banking. After successful payment, touching the card on the new machines at stations will complete the recharge.

According to the guidelines, customers must pay an additional fee for using the payment gateway. The online recharge balance will remain in a ‘pending’ status until the card is touched on an AVM machine and will be valid for three months. If the card is not updated within the stipulated time, the amount will return automatically to the user’s account, with a 10 percent service charge deducted. Refunds can be requested within seven days, with the same 10 percent fee applied.

DTC sources said AVM machines have been installed at stations. Two machines will be placed at each station, totalling 32 machines, installed from 21 to 22 November across 16 stations from Uttara to Motijheel.

Currently, recharged balances and user information are stored on the cards themselves and read by machines at station gates. For online recharges, the information will be stored in the software, so users need to update the card on AVM machines before using it at gates.

MRT and rapid pass users receive a 10 percent discount. Currently, 55 percent of Metro Rail passengers use these cards. Around 450,000 passengers travel daily. Since October, the first train from Uttara North departs at 6:30 am and the last at 9:30 pm, while from Motijheel the first train is at 7:15 am and the last at 10:10 pm. Next month, the interval between trains will be reduced by two minutes, which is expected to increase daily ridership above 500,000.

Khaborwala/SS