New fares for Metro to be fixed by May 6
Fares for the first phase of the city’s Metro are all set to be revised from May 6. The state government on Thursday said that the soon-to-be-formed fare fixation committee (FFC) will be submitting the final rates for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route to the Supreme Court on May 6.
Fares for the first phase of the city’s Metro are all set to be revised from May 6. The state government on Thursday said that the soon-to-be-formed fare fixation committee (FFC) will be submitting the final rates for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar route to the Supreme Court on May 6.
This comes after a long tussle between the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) on the fares that commuters have to pay. While the MMRDA had insisted on fixing the fare for the journey between Rs9 and Rs13, the MMOPL has been insisting it has the right to charge Rs 10-40 as fare, under the Metro Act. The FFC will have a final say.
The minister of state for urban development Dr Ranjit Patil said on Thursday the process will culminate soon. “The names of FFC members has been finalised but there are some technical details yet to be sorted out. However, the Centre would give its approval and the committee will submit its report to the SC with the proposed fares.”
The state’s announcement comes just three days after the SC upheld the fares fixed by MMOPL and asked the Centre to appoint the FFC and fix the rates by the end of April.
Patil was responding to questions from the Opposition Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress members on what they alleged was the state’s inefficiency in presenting the case. NCP MLC Sunil Tatkare, “The state has fallen short in presenting its case in court. It needed to aggressively present its case against MMOPL and reject the latter’s contention of cost escalation.”