Stating that the Rs 100 note that she inserted into the machine was returned back to her after a wait for five minutes, she said, “I selected all the options as required and inserted the money. After around five minutes, the money came out and it said the transaction had been cancelled.”

Swathi Nair, another commuter, said, “I wanted to recharge my metro card so I inserted the money but it let the money out immediately. When I looked around, I noticed that everyone else faced a similar situation. The train to St Thomas Mount that I was hoping to board had already entered the platform by then.”

Adding to the woes, no staff volunteered to help until after 10 minutes. “Why doesn’t the station use a ticket counter like every other metro station? When faced with situations like these, there must be an alternative. Besides, if a station is using only kiosks, it would make more sense to have staff present there to help the public,” said Sonia Andrews, another commuter and a resident of Vadapalani.

Stating that there is a booking counter at the concourse level, a CMRL official said, “We will look into what the issue with the ticket vending machines on the ground floor is. However, there are other options of booking tickets – including kiosks and a counter at the concourse level.”