New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party government’s proposal to make Delhi Metro rides free for women will not happen anytime soon as DRMC says the proposal is first needed to be cleared by a fare fixation committee.
On June 3, the chief minister had first announced that his government was working on a proposal to offer free rides to women in DTC buses, cluster buses and Delhi Metro.
As the DTC is completely under the state government, it went ahead with implementing the scheme in its buses as well as those under the cluster scheme.
But the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) conveyed to the city administration that rolling out the scheme in the Metro would take at least eight months.
“Even if we want, we cannot introduce such concession today because this (the free ride scheme proposal) first needs to be approved by the fare fixation committee. When it comes to the committee, we will put all aspects before the panel,” said Mangu Singh, managing director, DMRC.
Singh said Delhi Metro’s fare collection system is completely technology-based. “Currently it (the technology) does not recognise who is the beneficiary and who is not. So, if these types of concessions are to be introduced, there has to be a technological upgrade in our fare collection system, where the system can identify the beneficiaries,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}Singh said Delhi Metro’s fare collection system is completely technology-based. “Currently it (the technology) does not recognise who is the beneficiary and who is not. So, if these types of concessions are to be introduced, there has to be a technological upgrade in our fare collection system, where the system can identify the beneficiaries,” Singh said.
{{/usCountry}}He said DMRC has already zeroed in on the technology, which will be a system where the biometric information of metro travellers will be fed into their smart cards. “Implementing this will take at least eight months from the time it is actually decided that the scheme needs be rolled out,” Singh said.
The Delhi government, on the other hand, said the decision to implement the scheme is now up to DMRC and its board. “From our end, we have done all the necessary work. The matter is with the DMRC now,” transport minister Kailash Gahlot said.