Delhi Metro fare hike comes into force today as DMRC rejects Arvind Kejriwal's request

New Delhi: Travelling on Delhi Metro will pinch your pockets from Tuesday with the decks cleared for another fare hike, which will lead to an increase of Rs 10 for all travels beyond 5 kilometres.The fare hike, which comes barely five months within the last one, will affect every commuter who travels beyond 5 kilometres. The maximum fare, for journeys beyond 32 kilometres, will now be Rs 60.The revised fare structure will be:

• Up to 2 km: Rs 10
• 2 to 5 km: Rs 20
• 5 to 12 km: Rs 30
• 12 to 21 km: Rs 40
• 21 to 32 km: Rs 50
• For journeys beyond 32 km: Rs 60

Smart card users, who, according to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's (DMRC) estimates, happen to be 70 percent of the metro's total ridership, will continue to get 10 percent discount on each ride.[caption id="attachment_4101401" align="alignleft" width="380"]

Representational image. PTI[/caption]They will get an additional discount of 10 percent while travelling during off-peak hours, that is from beginning of services till 8 am, between 12 pm and 5 pm and from 9 pm to end of services.DMRC made the announcement after its highest decision making body, the DMRC board, refused to "interfere" in the matter, saying it has no power to change the recommendations of the fare fixation committee (FCC), which had proposed the steep hike.The board met around 8 pm following Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's insistence that the decision be withheld.The DMRC had been batting for a hike citing "losses" in view of loans and rise in input costs such as power tariff among others.Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia criticised the move on Twitter:

Sources said nominee directors of the Delhi government on the DMRC board conveyed the desire of the chief minister that the hike be withheld or postponed and a new fare fixation panel be set up."The board was informed that under Section 37 of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, recommendations of the FFC are binding on metro rail authorities."Subsequently, the board noted that it does not have the competence to consider and defer implementation of the recommendations of the FFC," sources said.Earlier, Union Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in a letter to Kejriwal, said the meeting was called in the spirit of "cooperative federalism".The new fares would be applicable across five corridors — Blue, Yellow, Red, Green and Violet — of the metro that crisscrosses the national capital, with the total network length currently standing at around 213 kilometres.There shall be no change in the fares of Airport Express Line (Orange Line).When the Delhi Metro had started operations on 25 December, 2002, the minimum fare was Rs 4 and maximum was Rs 8.With inputs from PTI