The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced a hike in its fares. In a social media post, DMRC said that the increase is minimal, ranging from one rupee to four rupees only, depending on the distance of travel. It added that the hike may go up to five rupees for the Airport Express Line. The new slabs have come into effect from today.
As per the new prices, a commute within 2km will cost ₹11 as compared to ₹10 earlier, while for the longest journey of over 32km, passengers will now pay ₹64, as against ₹60 earlier.
DMRC said the hike in fares, with immediate effect, has been issued as the corporation is facing financial challenges.
“The passenger fares of the Delhi Metro services have been revised with effect from today, i.e. August 25, after a gap of almost eight years. The increase has been minimal, ranging from ₹1 to ₹4 only depending on the distance of travel,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications at DMRC.
For the distance of 2-5km, commuters will now pay ₹21, as compared to the previous fare of ₹20; ₹32 as compared to earlier ₹30 for 5-12km and ₹43 as compared to the earlier ₹40 for a distance between 12-21km. To travel between 21-32km, they will now pay ₹54 as compared to ₹50 earlier.
DMRC said this was done as the 4th Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) had recommended a revision of the fares through an automatic fare revision formula. “This revision has now been done in line with the statutory provisions and recommendations of the 4th FFC, as per a decision taken by the Board of Directors of DMRC,” Dayal said.
“The losses incurred during the Covid period and the loan repayment commitments to JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) have posed a challenge to DMRC’s resources.
The need for midlife refurbishment of the Delhi Metro trains, civil assets, and machinery, the expenditure on general upkeep of the network, and salaries to the human resources have also continued during this period,” he added, stating that without any increase in passenger fares in the last eight years, the financial condition of the corporation was in considerable strain.