Delhi Assembly constitutes committee to look into rationale behind metro fare hike

Continuing its opposition to the Delhi metro fare hike, Delhi Assembly on Tuesday constituted a nine-member committee to be nominated by the Speaker to look into the rationale behind the hike of fare by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which came into effect today.

The new development by the Delhi government comes just a day after the DMRC confirmed the fare hike overriding Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's relentlessness to it.

As part of the two-phase revision of Metro fares, recommended by the Fare Fixation Committee, the fare would remain Rs 10 for the first five km, but will subsequently increase by Rs 10 in each slab, going up to a maximum of Rs 60.

Earlier, union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to pay up about Rs 3,000 crore annually for five years to DMRC, if it wants to continue low fares.

Responding to the suggestion, Kejriwal said that his government will pay the amount only if the Centre pays a matching amount to afford the losses.

Puri dismiised Kejriwal's suggestion of the Centre and Delhi government sharing the operational expenses, saying it would be a violation of the existing policy governing financing of metro projects.

After finalisation of the Delhi metro fare hike decision on Monday, the revised fare structure now is: up to 2 kms - Rs 10, 2-5 kms - Rs 20, 5-12 kms - Rs 30, 12-21 kms - Rs 40, 21-32 kms - Rs 50 and for journeys beyond 32 kms - Rs 60.