BMTC UPI Glitch On Hebbal Route Debits Commuter Accounts Without Issuing Tickets
A technical glitch in the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) UPI-based ticketing system caused commuter disputes and bus delays along the Hebbal-Silk Board route on Wednesday. The glitch, which resulted in successful bank debits without generating physical tickets, led to significant disruptions, including a notable incident at Kalyan Nagar where a bus was delayed for nearly 10 minutes.
During the Kalyan Nagar incident, a female passenger boarded a bus heading to Banaswadi and attempted to purchase a Rs 12 ticket. After scanning the dynamic QR code on the conductor's electronic ticketing machine, the transaction went through and the money was debited from her account, but the machine failed to print a ticket. The passenger tried the payment again using a different UPI application, but the ticket still failed to generate despite another successful debit.
A fellow commuter then attempted to pay the Rs 12 fare on her behalf. This transaction was also successfully debited from the second passenger's account without a ticket being printed. In total, Rs 36 was deducted from the passengers' accounts without a single ticket being issued.
The incident led to an argument between the passengers and the conductor, who maintained that a successful UPI payment would automatically generate an electronic ticket. To the conductor, the lack of a printed ticket meant the transaction was not complete. The bus was halted for approximately eight to ten minutes before the conductor eventually issued a ticket.
Similar issues were reported elsewhere on the network. Commuter Divya Kumar, who was travelling from Tin Factory to Banaswadi on a Volvo bus, reported that the QR code ticketing system failed for multiple passengers. According to Kumar, the conductor eventually asked if anyone had cash, prompting one passenger to pay the total in cash while the others transferred their fares to that passenger.
The recurring technical issues have drawn complaints from commuters who note that many passengers no longer carry physical cash, while conductors often lack the necessary change for cash transactions.
