Hyderabad Metro Rail making database of travellers

Hyderabad: Next time while you plan to visit the Metro station, remember to carry your identity proof. Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) officials have launched a registration drive for its smart card users from Saturday. While the Metro initially gave away smart cards by merely collecting money, it is now interested in knowing details about these smart card users.

When a commuter swipes a card at the exit or holds it, the station assistance directs them to provide details at the customer service centre. Several details, including the date of birth, phone number, identity proof, place of residence and smart card number are asked by the officials.

As the Nation is debating over the misuse of the 16-digit Unique Identification number of citizens, this organisation seeking Aadhaar details is certainly raising eyebrows. “Initially I was asked to give my Aadhaar number. When I questioned this, the official at the counter said that any ID proof is valid,” one of the travellers said.

All these details are hand written on a book by the official. These will be later manually entered into the database to keep track of travellers. “We are collecting the details so that if a person loses or misplaces their smart card, a replacement can be facilitated using these details. It can also be used to understand the number of smart card users,” an official said.