Pune Metro’s Online Ticketing Systems Crash Leaves Commuters Stranded

The service outage affected the metro’s official app, WhatsApp booking service, and ticket booths at stations, creating chaos at various metro stations, including PMC, Deccan Gymkhana, Shivajinagar, Civil Court and Pune station.

Commuters relying on Pune Metro services suffered Tuesday morning due to a breakdown of online ticketing system. Passengers were unable to get tickets despite payment deducted from their accounts.

The service outage affected the metro’s official app, WhatsApp booking service, and ticket booths at stations, leaving chaotic scenes at various stops, including PMC, Deccan Gymkhana, Shivajinagar, Civil Court, Pune station, Vanaz, Garware and PCMC. It took around more than three hours to restore the online system.

With the system crash, the only options for ticket purchase were cash counters and transactions through bank cards, which resulted in chaotic scenes at metro stations.

Hemant Sonawane, executive director (public relations and administration), Maharashtra Metro Rail Corporation Limited (Maha-Metro) said, “The payment gateway of the bank that handles Pune Metro’s online ticketing crashed at 9.10 am on Tuesday affecting the services. The bank restored the system at 1.30 pm.”

A commuter at Pune Railway Station metro stop, said, “No official could give us a satisfactory reply. They advised us to get paper-based tickets from counters.”