Bengaluru Metro commuters hit by WhatsApp ticketing glitch

Bengaluru Metro passengers have been dealing with inconvenience since Friday (September 26, 2025) morning after the WhatsApp ticketing system developed glitches, displaying a pop-up message that the service was beneath upkeep. The disruption left many commuters, who depend on the function for its ease of use, queuing at counters for tickets.

For many, the WhatsApp chatbot has been the popular option to e-book tickets because it avoids ready at queues and doesn’t require each day use of a metro card. However, for the reason that glitch started, passengers have been pressured to show to guide purchases.

“I often journey from Peenya to Infantry Road three days every week. Since I don’t use the Metro day-after-day, WhatsApp ticketing is probably the most handy possibility. But from Friday morning, it stopped working and I needed to stand in an extended queue to get a ticket,” mentioned Jayadeva Bolar, a commuter who has used the service for over a yr.

 Under upkeep

When passengers try to make use of the WhatsApp ticketing chatbot, they obtain the automated message: “This service is at present beneath upkeep. We’ll be again quickly. Thank you on your persistence.”

A senior official of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) clarified to The Hindu that the issue didn’t originate from the company’s finish. “The problem is just not with BMRCL however with WhatsApp. We have been knowledgeable it’s associated to upkeep, and we’re hopeful it is going to be resolved on the earliest,” the official mentioned.

Since its launch in November, 2022, WhatsApp ticketing has been a flagship initiative for BMRCL. The company had claimed Namma Metro was the primary transit system on the earth to introduce a chatbot-based QR ticketing service. The chatbot gives commuters the choice to converse in English and Kannada, purchase QR tickets, recharge metro playing cards, entry fare particulars, plan journeys, and discover departure timings.

To strengthen digital entry, BMRCL has additionally enabled ticketing by means of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). Tickets at the moment are obtainable by way of 9 client apps, in addition to the Namma Metro app, Paytm, and the WhatsApp chatbot (8105556677).