The Centre on Saturday came out with statistics seeking to debunk the “false narrative” that the increase in Metro fares was the only reason that led to a sharp decline in ridership. And, also that it was the Union Government which was keen on the tariff hike, whereas the Delhi Government was against it.
Maintaining that it is neither the Centre nor the Delhi Government that determines the Metro fare structure, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs said, “Fares are one of the factors”. It said there could be “other factors” like for example “in 2016 there was a ridership dip by 1.3 lakh from September to October in spite of no change in fare structure”.
Citing that there are month-to-month variations, it pointed out that the daily ridership immediately after the fare hike on October 10 was “actually higher than prior to the fare hike”.
The Ministry also said the ridership in November has shown a rising trend.
Criticising the Delhi Government, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said that there was no direct relationship between fare hike and ridership. Puri said every year there are a few months that see an increase in ridership and a decline is observed in the others.
“Also, assessment on average ridership after fare hike should be made after few months. The increase in fares in May 2017 resulted in the ridership decline for one month i.e. June, and then increased in the next three months. Ridership in the month of November 2017 too has shown a rising trend,” he said.
Based on partial information, they (news outlet) have sought to produce a false narrative suggesting that the Delhi Government wanted to postpone the tariff hike and it is the Central Government which was keen on the tariff hike, his Ministry stated.
Puri said that despite the increase, the Delhi Metro fares were among the “lowest in both the world and India”.
His comments came hours after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has been opposing the fare hike, tweeted, “This steep hike in metro fare will kill Delhi Metro. If people stop using it, then what purpose does it serveIJ”
According to the DMRC’s records, the fall in October was the steepest ever. The Metro has been logging a daily average ridership between 27 lakh and 28 lakh over the recent years, with minor variations.
But the Minister clarified that when Delhi Metro fare increased, its impact was studied by taking in account data of at least two-three months. “Neither the Delhi Government nor the Central Government has authority to decide fares of Delhi Metro, only fare fixation committee can do that. Have made public the report published by them,” Puri said.
Interestingly, according to the Fare Fixation Committee report, the next Delhi Metro fare hike by 7 per cent is expected from January 1, 2019.
“It is seen that the drop in the ridership in October 2017 is not solely attributable to increase in fares as there are otherwise monthly variations noted throughout the year. In the month of October there were five Sundays in comparison to 4 in September where ridership is around 60-70 per cent of the working day ridership. The month of October started with a long weekend/extended holidays due to Dussehra falling on September 30 followed by Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, a national holiday due to festivals of Diwali, Chhath Pooja, Bhaiya Duj and Goverdhan Pooja,” the Minister clarified.
Demolishing the claim that there has been a drop in the passenger kilometre per day, the Ministry has put an interesting data which says the passenger kilometre per day has risen after the May 2017 increase in fare. The passenger km per day in May was recorded 4,30,45,236 while in September it was 4,42,63,171.
Delhi Metro is a capital intensive project. It has a loan from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) of Rs 28,268 crore. So far they have only paid Rs 1,507 crores. For the current year, they have to pay Rs 890 crore towards principal and interest liability. For the last 8 years there was no increase in fares.
“Those who understand the precepts of public infrastructure creation will also understand that if a world class infrastructure like the Delhi Metro has to be run efficiently as it is being run today, then its long-term liabilities in terms of loan repayment and asset replacement needs to be discharged timely,” the Ministry said.