Will approach court against metro fare hike: Cong

The Congress would challenge in court the metro rail fare hike, its Delhi unit president Ajay Maken said today and questioned why the AAP government did not do so if it was against raising the ticket rates.
The report of the 4th fare fixation committee(FFC) was with the central government and the Kejriwal government for past 15 months but they both did not challenge the fare hike, Maken told reporters.
"Is the report so sacrosanct and binding that it cannot be challenged in a court of law?" he asked.
The Delhi Congress will approach the court against Delhi metro fare hike, if the Delhi government fails to do so, Maken said.

Based on a recommendation of the 4th FFC, the Delhi Metro effected the fare hike, leading to a rise of around Rs 10 for nearly every distance slab last month. This came barely five months of another hike of up to 100 per cent.
The FFC pointed that the fare of Airport Express Line is less than the maximum fare recommended by the 3rd FFC, but the DMRC proposed no changes in its fare, Maken claimed.

"This means that the 4th FFC report is not binding on the government to implement it in totality," he said.
Citing Mumbai Metro fares, he said that the Maharashtra Metropolitan Rail Development Authority (MMRDA) had challenged fare hike recommended by fare fixation committee in the high court and the fare increase was stayed.

Maken demanded that the Centre and the Delhi government subsidize the ticket rates.