New Delhi, March 5 (IANS): Delhi Metro users can now get their smart cards recharged automatically, courtesy their credit or debit cards, at the AFC (Automatic Fare Collection) gates, Delhi Metro said Wednesday.

Interested passengers just need to fill up a form, giving their assent to deduct a particular amount from their credit or debit cards.

The form can be collected and submitted at seven metro stations: Sikanderpur, Huda City Centre, Badarpur, Nehru Place, Govindpuri, Lajpat Nagar and Kailash Colony.

Passengers can also give their contact details to the customer care officials at the stations who will then contact passengers for further processing.

"Once the application is approved by the bank, which is likely to take a week's time, the smart card will be registered for the auto top-up facility and linked to the (bank) account after registration," it said.

The smart cards can be recharged by placing them on the swipe machine.

After registration, passengers will have to get their smart cards activated for the new facility from any of the 41 designated stations.

Following activation, the smart card will be automatically recharged with Rs.200 if its value falls below Rs.100. The amount will be deducted from the passenger's account and will be credited to Delhi Metro.

Presently, about 70 percent of the metro commuters use smart cards, with close to 25,000 smart cards being sold daily.

Initially available at 54 stations, the top-up facility is expected to be extended to all metro stations within six to eight months.