Now, use a smart card to buy milk at Mother Dairy outlets

Consumers in the National Capital Region will no longer have to carry cash to buy milk and other dairy products from Mother Dairy booths and can instead use a smart card to shop.

Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt Ltd and State Bank of India on Wednesday announced the launch of the SmartChange Card for Mother Dairy booths in Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region. The card has been introduced to make payment easier. After a successful pilot run, the card has been rolled out in 76 booths already, and Mother Dairy aims to expand it to 150 booths in next three months.

The card, priced at Rs 25 at the time of issuance, will have a top up limit of Rs 1,000. Customers can use the card to shop for various items available at the booths, including milk and other dairy products, ice creams, and Dhara edible oil. Mother Dairy will soon take the same concept to its Safal fruit and vegetable stores.

S. Nagarajan, Managing Director at the Rs 6,300-crore Mother Dairy, explained the reasons behind the launch of the card. "We had a dual problem of tendering exact change to consumers after purchase from booths and the cash handling hassle for concessionaire due to usage of coins. While it left the consumers peeved, it was also not always possible for retailers to tender the exact change all the time," he said. Also, customers now prefer cashless shopping, he added.

S.K. Mishra, Deputy Managing Director (Corporate Strategy and New Businesses), State Bank of India, said, "The card is specifically designed to be easy to use and convenient to cater to the needs of Mother Dairy booth consumers and is positioned as an alternative to use of small notes/coins at outlets."