Women commuters in Delhi will no longer be able to avail free bus service without a Pink Saheli smart card from August 1, 2026. According to reports from Business Standard, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has made the smart card mandatory for all free bus travel benefits. The DTC announced that pink tickets will be issued only to women passengers who have a valid Pink Saheli smart card, which they must tap at the time of boarding to continue receiving free bus service. As per The Economic Times, the authority has decided to gradually phase out the existing paper-based pink ticket system and shift to a smart card-based system for free bus travel benefits. The DTC has clarified that conductor shall continue to issue pink tickets to eligible women passengers as per the existing practice, and such tickets shall remain valid for free travel as per the notified scheme until July 31. The move phases out the existing paper-based pink ticket system that has been in use since 2019, replacing it with a more secure and digitized alternative.
The government has decided to gradually phase out the existing paper-based pink ticket system and shift to a smart card-based system for free bus travel benefits. As reported by Business Standard, women passengers who do not possess a Pink Saheli card will not be issued pink tickets and will be required to purchase normal tickets by paying the applicable fare for travelling in DTC and DoT (Cluster) buses. According to The Economic Times, existing paper pink tickets will be valid for free travel until July 31, after which only smart card holders can receive pink tickets for free rides. This represents a significant change from the current system where paper tickets were issued to eligible women commuters. The DTC has emphasized that with effect from August 1, pink tickets shall be issued only to those women passengers who are in possession of a valid Pink Saheli Smart Card (NCMC) by tapping the Pink Saheli Smart card at the time of boarding/travel. As per the latest DTC circular, passengers without the smart card will no longer be issued pink tickets after July 31 and will instead have to purchase regular tickets and pay the applicable fare.
Concerned over the slow adoption of the Pink Saheli card by women commuters, the Delhi Transport Corporation has launched a special drive across its buses advising women to obtain the cards. As reported by Business Standard, this outreach initiative aims to increase awareness and facilitate the transition to the smart card system. The DTC has issued clear instructions that women without valid Pink Saheli cards will not be issued pink tickets and must purchase normal tickets from August 1 onwards. According to The Economic Times, passengers are advised to obtain their smart cards before the July deadline to avoid disruption in their free travel benefits. The authority has emphasized that women passengers who do not have a Pink Saheli Smart Card shall not be issued pink tickets and shall be required to purchase normal tickets and pay the applicable fare for travelling in DTC/DoT buses. The card is available only through offline application at DC Offices, SDM Offices, or authorized DTC Centers across Delhi, with no online application facility currently available.
The Delhi government has established 50 authorized centres across the city to facilitate the issuance of Pink Saheli smart cards. According to the DTC order reported by Business Standard, all eligible women under the scheme may obtain the Pink Saheli smart card from these notified centres and counters as per transport department and DTC directions. The government has set a target of distributing 13 lakh cards by the end of July 2026, with around 11 lakh cards already distributed across the city as of the announcement date. The Saheli Pink Smart Card Yojana was officially launched on March 2, 2026, as a modern, digital, and secure NCMC-based smart card that replaces the old pink paper ticket system. The card is valid for DTC buses, cluster buses (free travel), and Delhi Metro (after recharge) and can be used by simply tapping on the conductor's ETM machine. All women and transgender residents of Delhi aged 5 years and above can apply, with no income limit - the Aadhaar card must carry a Delhi address, with cards from NCR regions such as Noida, Ghaziabad or Gurugram not accepted.
The Pink Saheli Smart Card digitizes the entire free bus travel system, eliminating the manual process of collecting paper tickets. The card is a personalised NCMC (National Common Mobility Card) carrying the woman's photo and a unique QR code, which only needs to be tapped once while boarding, similar to how a metro card works. This system allows DTC to track ridership data more accurately and prevent duplicate or unauthorised use. The card can be obtained at over 50 authorized distribution centres across Delhi — including DTC depots, SDM offices, and dedicated camps — open Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm. Applicants need to carry an original Aadhaar card with a Delhi address, along with a registered mobile number, with some centres also asking for passport-sized photographs. After Aadhaar-based biometric or OTP verification, the card is issued on the spot. Some centres have introduced a QR-code-based system to skip queues, allowing applicants to scan a QR code, fill in a short online form, and get a digital token for instant card collection. Since it's built on the NCMC framework, the same card can also be used to pay for travel on the Delhi Metro and RRTS (Namo Bharat), where the regular fare applies, making it a single card for both free bus rides and paid metro or RRTS journeys.
