Supreme Court rejects MMRDA's petition; Mumbai Metro commuters might have to pay up to Rs.110

After the Supreme Court rejected Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) petition against increasing ticket fare for Mumbai Metro. The Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) had recently allowed for increasing the fares upto Rs.110 for the metro which runs from Versova to Ghatkopar Metro.

Before the MMRDA's petition was rejected by the Supreme Court, Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) has one-time capital grant of Rs 1,000 crore from the Maharashtra government but it had asked for an operational subsidy of Rs 21.75 crore a month to continue operating the railway with cheap fares. This was the same time when Reliance threatened to pull out of running the metro.

MMOPL had asked for the fares to remain in the current bracket of Rs 10-40. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, however, was quoted as saying in Mumbai Mirror that there no aid will be given to MMOPL till a CAG audit took place.

Also Read: MMRDA to appeal against hiking of Metro fare to Rs110

MMRDA has been tussling with MMOPL for a long time over the fare structure. The original fare structure planned by MMRDA was Rs. 9-13, while Reliance had planned a fare structure of Rs. 10-40. The matter reached the courts over the dispute between the two and an FFC appointed by the union government was brought in place to look into the matter.

Final details of the hike are yet to be declared.