Mumbaikars will have to shell out higher fare ranging from Rs10 to Rs40 to travel by Mumbai Metro between Ghatgkopar and Versova stations, with the Bombay High Court allowing the Reliance Infrastructure (R Infra)-led Mumbai Metro-One Private limited (MMOPl) to carry out the fare hike.
Rejecting an appeal made by the State-run MMRDA against a single-judge Bench order that had said that the State Government had no right to decide on the fare, a HC division Bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and B P Colabawalla accepted the MMORl’s argument it was incurring losses to the tune of Rs 85 lakh per day and allowed the transport body to effect the fare hike.
The HC Bench allowed the MMOPl to charge the fares of Rs10, Rs20, Rs30 and Rs40, as decided by its board earlier, against the existing promotional fares of Rs10, Rs15 and Rs20. The new fares will come into force from January 10.
The HC Bench declined to entertain a plea by MMRDA seeking a stay on the order so facilitate it to move the apex court against the HC ruling.
The Judges also directed the Government of India to appoint fare fixation committee (FFC) before January 31. It also set three months’ deadline for the FFC to fix the eventual fares.
In his reaction to the HC ruling, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: "We are studying the HC judgement. We would like to assure the people that we are with them and if the need be, we will file appeal against the order".