Immediately after the problem occurred, the staff at the Metro stations initially issued paper tickets to the passengers and allowed them through the manual entry and exit point. However, officials soon started allowing the passengers to take a free ride after instructions were given from the higher ups.

An official release said that this was due to automatic fare collection system malfunction, which lasted till 10.30 am. It has since been rectified, it added. “Passengers were allowed to utilise the Metro train services without tokens and smart cards. As the malfunction has been rectified, passengers may utilise their Metro Smart Cards and tokens for utilising the metro train services,” the release said.

The Metro’s announcement of free ride evoked a good response in social media, with many asking the people to make the best use of it. “There has been a hitch in the Chennai Metro Rail Ticketing System and the #CMRL has announced that commuters can travel for no cost till the issue is resolved. It’s a free Metro ride day today. Make the best use of it,” Nikin Bhargav quipped in a tweet.

Another Twitter user, Sankar, posted: “These servers are down till the time #CMRL decides to reduce the ticket prices.”