CHENNAI: Commuters in the city could by the end of next year be able to swipe a smartcard after an autorickshaw ride instead of paying cash.

The Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority has planned to include autorickshaws among various transit modes — including suburban trains, MTC buses, metro rail and the proposed mono rail — that the smartcard can be used for as a common payment option.

Officials said they were likely to integrate autorickshaws under the unified system only after it started working for the other modes of transit. “We do not expect to implement the smartcard system for autorickshaws immediately because drivers are in the process of switching over to electronic meters,” an official of the transport department said. “We will include autorickshaws under the single payment umbrella once other transport services adopt the method.”

A technical committee set up by the transport department to decide on the features of the GPS-enabled autorickshaw meters, held its first meeting on Thursday. Transport department officials said the features of the system were likely to be decided over the course of three meetings.

A transport department official said auto drivers were wary of using GPS technology . “They fear that the authorities will be able to track them and they could be targeted unfairly,” he said.

The government will fund the first batch of 80,000 meters, but drivers applying for permits after the state-purchased units are exhausted will have to pay for the meters, each of which is expected to cost 10,000. Thursday’s meeting followed the agenda in a government order issued last week. The 13-member committee, consisting of officials from the transport department, traffic police, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu (Elcot), IIT-M, Anna University and the Central department of legal metrology, discussed technical specifications and standards required for electronic meters equipped with printers.

“We discussed back-end operations such as how many computers and staff strength will be required and also the software that we will have to develop,” another official who attended the meeting said. The state will complete procurement of the new meters by February 2, 2014.

Regional transport offices have so far distributed 57,000 rate cards and 35,000 drivers have recalibrated their meters to match the new fares. Of the 35,000 meters that have been recalibrated, around 15,000 were checked and sealed by RTO officials.

