The government is looking to unveil a new smart card that could be used to travel across all Metro rail networks in the country for a limited number of trips, a Times of India report said. At present, smart cards issued by Metro operators in a city can only be used to travel within its network. The tokens or card issued at Metro stations have certain specifications that were made by some foreign players.

The report said that this card will be in addition to the "One Nation One Card" planned to be launched to be used for any mode of transport and also retail purchases. Since the "One Nation One Card" will require users to comply with strict KYC norms (as these will be similar to debit cards and issued by banks), the government wants to introduce a different card for those who will be visiting a city or country for a short period.

The new card will be issued to on presenting proof of passport for foreigners and Aadhaar card (or any Indian government issued ID) for residents.

However, the users will have to charge the card at a counter at every city separately as each of the Metro networks have their own fare rules, the report further said, citing government sources.

The task of coming up with specifications for these new cards have been issued by the Ministry of Urban Affairs to CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), an autonomous Scientific Society of Department of Electronics and Information Technology, it further said.

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