If you are a Smart Card user, you can now save time while entering or exiting a Metro station.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has installed special steel framed gates near the Automatic Fare Collection gates at select Metro stations only for Smart Card users.

Around 55 per cent of Metro users in national capital have Smart Cards.

DMRC took the decision to introduce special gates for Smart Card holders after the users felt that they were getting unnecessarily delayed at the entry and exit points because the token users taking more time.

Most of the first-time users or people who are not familiar with the system take more time to exit or enter from the station. Sometime, they get stuck at the entry or exit points not knowing how to use it. This delays the people in the queue.

The first such seven feet-long steel framed gate has already been installed at the Barkahmaba Road Metro station on trial basis for the faster exit of Smart Card users.

"The token users will be able to use the remaining gates for exiting from the system," DMRC spokesman Anuj Dayal said, adding two more such gates are planned at the Rajiv Chowk station.

He said the new system may also be installed at other stations and traffic movement of stations is being closely studied to decide whether such gates are needed there.

"If at a Metro station, more than 60 per cent of the commuters are Smart Card users, then this option can be explored," he said.

This step is also expected to encourage the commuters further to go for Smart Cards as their use will ensure smoother entry and exit from the Metro system.

Dayal said DMRC encourages its commuters to use the Smart Cards, as the users get a 10 per cent discount on the fares and also avoid the long queues at the token counters.

There is no risk of paying any penalty for travelling beyond the authorised distance either as is the case with tokens.