July 22: Confronted with rampant misuse of its passes, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is now trying to sell the idea of loyalty to its regular commuters. It has come up with the idea of issuing a ‘Loyalty Card’ to pass holders, who must produce it in addition to their daily passes when boarding buses.

The corporation hopes the new cards, which are being issued for Rs 25 each since Wednesday in the city, will help it curb the misuse of its passes, which it is currently finding hard to handle. The BMTC has found to its dismay that its passes, whether daily, weekly, issued to students or senior citizens are often used by more than one person, although they are strictly non-transferable.

It has also come across cases of those who have been issued the passes selling them at discounted rates to others when they have no more use for them. The misuse is said to be particularly high at the Majestic and Shivajinagar bus stations.

“We have made the Loyalty Card a must for commuters to prevent multiple use of our passes. No pass holder will be allowed on the buses unless he produces this card as well. A passenger must produce the card or a monthly commuter pass ID , which is issued for a fee of Rs 100, along with his daily pass,” warns a BMTC officer.

The corporation is trying to sell the idea by offering passengers their daily passes for Rs 35 as against the Rs 40 they pay for them currently if they buy the Loyalty Cards every month. It hopes the incentive of saving Rs 150 a month on their daily pass will prove a big enough draw for commuters to opt for the Loyalty Cards.

While the scheme will obviously take a while to be accepted by regulars on the buses, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation is making sure the the Loyalty Cards are easily available to passengers by issuing them at all its 32 centers in the city .