Indian cities using QR codes for services

NEW DELHI: It's 9am on a Friday morning the middle of the weekday rush hour and Ajit Jain, an IT professional, is making his way towards the Noida Sector 52 Metro station

- Manoj Sharma

Jain only uses the Metro occasionally, and doesn't have a smart card, so usually a Metro ride means waiting in a queue for 10-15 minutes to buy a token.

On Friday, however, Jain has already bought a ticket online. He scans the quick response (QR) code of the ticket - which he has on his mobile - at the automatic fare collection (AFC) gate at the Metro station and enters the premises.

"Now, whenever I feel like commuting on the Metro, all I need to do is buy the ticket online and walk straight to the AFC gate. I do not need to stand in queues any longer," said Jain.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on, June 30, introduced a dedicated mobile app for its QR code-based ticketing system, a month after the corporation had introduced QR code-based paper tickets.

"The idea was to ensure that passengers don't need to queue up at the counter or use cash for transactions," said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC. "Today, over 21% of passengers are QR code ticket users. On average, about 20,000 QR tickets are booked through the DMRC Travel app every day."

Traditional vs modern

QR codes are essentially two-dimensional barcodes that can store information, and cities across India have begun using them for a host of purposes better governance, delivery of citizen services, and seeking feedback for services, among others.

In Bengaluru, for example, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is currently in the process of pasting QR codes on road signs across the city's south zone.

Scanning these codes, officials said, will give a person all the information about the road its length, the official responsible maintenance, when for its it was last repaired, details of waste generated, and the names and contact numbers of officials in charge of streetlights.