Mumbai Metro fare hike deferred till December 17

The ongoing tussle between Reliance Infra arm Mumbai Metro One Private Limited ( MMOPL) and city-development authority MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) intensified on Monday with the latter moving the Bombay High Court challenging the recommendations of the fare fixation committee which had recently allowed a hike in fares for the metro service. ET NOW was the first to report the development.

The committee had given the nod for fares upto Rs 110 for the service which runs from Versova to Ghatkopar. The move came a day before Mumbai Metro One Private Limited was set to increase fares by Rs 5 in different slabs ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 45. The original fare structure planned by MMRDA ranged between Rs 9-13.

MMRDA argued that Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) had increased the fares and frontloaded them in the first year leading to capacity going down for a mass transit service. MMOPL responded saying that it was permitted to increase the fares upto Rs 110, but had still chosen to raise them in a gradual, phased manner.

During the course of arguments, MMOPL agreed to not implement the fresh hike in fares till the next hearing of the case. The Bombay High Court is scheduled to hear the case on December 17th. MMRDA was represented by senior counsel Aspi Chenoy and advised by law firm Khaitan & Co. When contacted, an MMOPL spokesperson said, " Since the Hon'ble High Court has scheduled the hearing on priority basis on 17th Dec, 2015, we have deferred the fare revision till then".