 "Road ahead: If there is one area where the new metro policy could be faulted for inadequate attention, it is in the area of fixing institutional responsibility")
Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said on Saturday that the decision to hike the price of Delhi Metro was taken by the fare fixation committee and neither the Delhi government nor the Central government has authority to decide.
"When fare is increased, its impact is studied by taking in account data of at least two to three months. Neither Delhi government nor the Central government has authority to decide fares of Delhi Metro, only fare fixation committee can do that," he told ANI.
According to an RTI reply, over three lakh commuters stopped taking Delhi Metro in October after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) increased the passenger fare for the second time this year.
As part of the two phase revision of Metro fares recommended by the committee, the fare would remain Rs. 10 for the first 2 km but will subsequently increase by Rs. 10 in each slab, going up to a maximum of Rs. 60.
The metro fares were last revised in May when the minimum tariff was raised from Rs. 8 to Rs. 10.
The revised fare structure is: up to 2 km - Rs. 10, 2-5 km - Rs. 20, 5-12 km - Rs. 30, 12-21 km - Rs. 40, 21-32 km - Rs. 50 and for journeys beyond 32 km - Rs. 60.
