Not just ridership, Delhi Metro has also registered a drop in the sale of smart cards over the past one year, a period that saw successive fare hikes. According to data made available in response to an RTI query, in the months of July, August, September and October last year, the Metro sold an average of 15,650 cards per day. This year, during the same period, the figure dropped to 12,250.
However, a DMRC spokesperson told The Pioneer, “Fluctuations in smart card sales cannot be solely linked to fare hike. Post the policy launched in April this year where smart cards became non-refundable, there has been a dip.”