PhonePe signs partnership with Chennai Metro Rail to enable digital ticket purchase

Fintech major PhonePe has signed a partnership with the Chennai Metro Rail Ltd, enabling passengers to travel to their preferred destination by purchasing digital tickets.

Following the launch of the service on Friday, commuters would receive a 20 per cent discount on electronic tickets as compared to those tickets purchased offline. 

A passenger can purchase QR tickets for up to six people from one smartphone at the same time and scan at the entry/exit gates of the Chennai Metro to complete their journey.

As a part of the partnership with Chennai Metro, PhonePe will enable key services for commuters in phases -- booking of single and return journey tickets on PhonePe Switch and recharge of the physical smart card on PhonePe Switch among others. 

In the first phase, booking of single journey tickets on PhonePe Switch has been enabled. 

Other services will be enabled soon, a press release said. 

Chennai Metro commuters who purchase QR tickets would be eligible for a 20 per cent discount as compared to offline tickets. 

PhonePe has collaborated with the Hyderabad Metro, Mumbai Metro, and Delhi Metro towards ensuring that the authorities manage operations smoothly in the respective cities. 

"This partnership with PhonePe gives our Chennai Metro commuters one more option to avail QR-tickets seamlessly, while also helping us manage our operations efficiently." CMRL Managing Director M A Siddique said. 

"By promoting quick and easy solutions like QR tickets, we are encouraging the public to commute via metros, thus decongesting the city, especially during peak hours," he said.

PhonePe Chief Business Officer-Merchant Business Yuvraj Singh Shekhawat said, "We believe that this partnership will be another big step forward in our journey of creating a digital payments ecosystem for transit use cases, thereby contributing towards the vision of a digital and cashless India."

Passengers opting to use the PhonePe service should go to the Switch section in the mobile application and select the Chennai Metro icon.

After entering the details about origin and destination stations and the number of passengers, the passenger would be able to book ticket via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) A digital QR code would be generated within the PhonePe application which needs to be scanned at the entry and exit points of the metro stations to complete the journey, it added.