Delhi Metro challaned over one lakh passengers in 5 years

From sitting on the floor to walking on railway tracks and spitting, the Delhi Metro is keeping a close watch on violators.

From sitting on the floor to walking on railway tracks and spitting, the Delhi Metro is keeping a close watch on violators. A Right to Information (RTI) reply has revealed that Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has challaned over one lakh passengers in over five years for 13 offences which are punishable.

Officials say overcrowding in Metro has become a major problem and leads to violations. (Hindustan Times)

According to the RTI reply, most of the passengers were challaned for entering into coaches reserved for women. “Of the 106,846 passengers, who were penalised, 59,545 were challaned for entering into woman’s coach. The fine for this is `250. The maximum fine is for obstructing trains or train doors and only three persons have been challaned for that in five years,” the reply by DMRC revealed.

Between July 2011 and March 2016, the DMRC collected `2.47 crore by levying fine on different offences.

DMRC said it has pasted a list of violations at every Metro station informing passengers about the consequences. “For the safety of passengers, there are many offences for which we levied fines. There are many other violations, for which we have to take help of police... In fact 1,103 were challaned for selling items on Metro premises without any authorisation,” said a DMRC official.

The Metro official said that in comparison to the ridership which is 28 lakh per day, the offences are less and passengers in Metro know that they are being watched. Recently, DMRC has started penalising passengers for return journey.

The official received complaints that many passengers travel back to origin station to ensure seat for their long journey, leaving no seat for those boarding the train from origin stations. For instance, if a passenger has to travel to Dwarka from Anand Vihar, she will board the train going towards Vaishali, and return in the same train.

Overcrowding in Metro has become a major problem and leads to violations. As per the survey before the construction, the traffic projection for 2016 was 27.30 lakh per day but in August 2015, DMRC handled 31.90 lakh passengers. In 2002, when the Metro was started, the average ridership was 80,000 passengers per day, which has now increased to 28 lakh passengers per day.