Any female passenger — aged 12 or above — in Delhi can apply for the card. A Delhi Aadhaar number is mandatory, and the registered mobile number linked to Aadhaar must be provided.Even as the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has issued nearly 5.56 lakh Pink Saheli Smart Cards to female bus passengers in the Capital for free travel since the initiative was launched last month, only about 5–6% of female passengers — roughly 6,000-8,000 — are using these cards at present, according to the official data.The Pink Saheli Smart Card initiative was launched by President Droupadi Murmu on March 2. The move was aimed at replacing the Pink ticketing system— launched by the previous AAP government in 2019 — with Centre’s ‘One Nation, One Card’ initiative through the Pink National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) card. The switch also aimed to ensure that only female passengers, aged above 12 who are residing in Delhi, could avail the free travel facility.Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, after the launch, had said that the Pink tickets could be used for three months. But a majority of female passengers, according to officials, have not yet made the switch from Pink tickets.Officials are now mulling conducting a survey to identify the reasons behind the low usage and the Saheli cards may be made mandatory for free travel by July.“The daily average bus ridership is 23 lakh, including through tickets and bus passes. Of this, 6 to 7 lakh riders are women. But we have observed that the Pink Smart Card is not being used by even 50% of women passengers… This means the remaining continue to travel using Pink tickets,” said an official.With the survey, DTC will try to identify the possible reasons behind the low usage — whether female passengers do not have the card, whether they are from other states, or whether conductors are not asking them to use the card.Apart from the survey, DTC is planning to carry out surprise checks in buses to see whether female riders are not tapping these cards or if the conductors are not asking the passengers to tap the cards and giving out pink tickets.Story continues below this ad“After this, we will make free travelling mandatory through Pink Cards and gradually discontinue the Pink tickets,” said a senior official, adding that the survey will start next month onwards.The official added, “Since May and June are peak summer months, the card has not been made mandatory yet, but it will become compulsory from July. Before that, awareness campaigns will be conducted in buses to encourage its use.”The free travel scheme for women in Delhi was launched in 2019 by the then AAP government. Under the previous AAP government’s “Pink Passes” scheme, over 150 crore pink tickets have been sold so far.The current government has also allocated Rs 450 crore for the scheme in the 2026–27 budget.Story continues below this adThe process of issuing the Pink Smart Card has been underway since March, and currently it is being done at 58 centers.Any female passenger — aged 12 or above — in Delhi can apply for the card. A Delhi Aadhaar number is mandatory, and the registered mobile number linked to Aadhaar must be provided.Citing that DTC has suffered a loss of Rs 14,000 crore, the CM last month said that the BJP government will digitalise the ticketing system completely.