New Delhi, Nov 13 (IANS): Delhi Metro commuters will now be able to recharge their smart cards by sending SMS to a designated number, courtesy a new facility launched Thursday.

To avail the service, passengers should have an account with ICICI Bank with their mobile number registered.

The service is avialble at 71 Metro stations which include Janpath, Mandi House, INA, Tilak Nagar, Karkardooma, AIIMS, Saket and Noida City Centre.

Passengers need to send a SMS from their mobile phones to 9222208888 using the number registered with the bank account.

The SMS needs to provide the DMRC card ID (on the back of the smart card), amount for topping up, and last six digits of ICICI bank account.

"Once SMS is processed, passenger will get the confirmatory message from ICICI Bank. After this, the passenger needs to go to one of the 71 Metro stations, show the smart card at the Add Value Machine to complete the process," a Delhi Metro statement said.

Presently, about 70 percent of Metro commuters use smart cards, and some 16,000 smart cards are sold daily.

The facility was inaugurated at the Barakhamba Metro station Thursday.