Delhi's Pink Saheli smart card failures force ₹60 replacement fees
Delhi's Pink Saheli smart cards, meant to let women ride DTC busses for free, are acting up.
Many cards just don't work, so women have to pay ₹60 for replacements even if their original card was faulty.
To make things messier, bus conductors are getting mixed signals from different depots about whether women can travel free without a working card.
October smart rollout stalls amid glitches
Smart cards were introduced in March this year, and the switch from paper tickets to smart cards was supposed to take place on October 1, but some conductors are still handing out paper tickets because of tech glitches.
Students like Raunak have had to replace cards that worked in some busses and not in others, while Antara has had to replace cards that never worked at all.
With card-issuing hubs slashed from 70 to just 38 across the city, there are long queues, and everyone's left waiting for answers.