New Delhi:
After eight years, the Delhi Metro has revised its fares -- bringing up the minimum ticket price from Rs 8 to Rs 10. The maximum fare will be Rs 50 instead of the current Rs 30. The new fares, which cuts down the existing 15 fare slabs to six, will come into effect from Wednesday. A second fare revision will take place on October 1.
The hike - which is up to 66 per cent -- was announced by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation or DMRC after a board meeting today. It brings Delhi metro's fare on par with Chennai and Bengaluru. With a base fare of Rs 5, only Kolkata now pays less.
The new in-between fare slabs will be Rs 15 for 2-5 km, Rs 20 for 5-12 km, Rs 30 for 12-21 km and Rs.40 for 21-32 km. The existing 10 percent discount for smartcard holders will continue. Plus, to cut down on overcrowding, a 10 per cent extra discount will also be offered during non-peak hours, which would be 6 to 8 am, noon to 5 pm and 9 pm onwards. Smart card holders who exit during these hours will get the additional discount.
On Sundays and national holidays, the slabs will be lower - the maximum fare will be Rs 40.
This was the fourth time the fares have been revised since the Metro started rolling in 2002 - the last revision was in 2009. The decision to review fare came after repeated requests from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation citing high overhead costs, including electricity.
While Metro has become Delhi's favourite mode of travel since its inception in 2002, with footfall of around 3 million a day, the urban development ministry had told Parliament that DMRC suffered a net loss of Rs 708.5 crore in 2015-2016.
Last June, the government set up a three-member committee under former Delhi High Court judge, Justice (Retired) ML Mehta to look into fare revision issue. The report, submitted in September, suggested the current fare slabs.
Recently, the DMRC had also entered into a partnership with the app- based cab aggregator, Ola, allowing its commuters to recharge their metro cards directly from the Ola Money app.