Hyderabad: The Mahalakshmi scheme, under which women can travel in state-owned buses for free, has saved women Rs 9,360.06 crore and increased daily passengers in the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) buses by 33 per cent, the Telangana Congress said on Thursday, March 5.
The scheme, launched on December 9, 2023, is being implemented in 81 per cent of TGSRTC buses and has benefitted 273.24 crore women by February 10, 2026, the Congress added.
Additionally, the Telangana government has decided to issue “Mahalakshmi smart cards” to replace the use of Aadhaar cards for zero tickets, or tickets which are free.
These smart cards will solve any technical issues being faced currently by conductors and also prevent people from other states from availing the free bus scheme by using fake Aadhaar cards.
They will have chips embedded in them, which will allow conductors to issue zero tickets by tapping the card on a new type of intelligent ticket-issuing machine (iTIM).
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Saleha Fatima | | 
