Delhi Metro fares go up amid criticism; ABVP volunteers hold protest, commuters disappointed

The controversy over Delhi Metro fare hike escalated further on Tuesday after ABVP volunteers held a protest outside the Metro Bhawan in New Delhi, according to media reports. The Delhi government has been staunchly against the fare hike, terming the move anti-people, however,  the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Tuesday went ahead with the hike, eliciting mostly negative responses from commuters.

Delhi: ABVP workers hold protest outside Metro Bhawan over Delhi Metro fare hike pic.twitter.com/MmPr84OJAf

— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2017

Reacting to this, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asked that if people stopped using the metro, then whom was it meant for.

I really feel sad. If the people stop using Metro, then for whom is Metro meant for https://t.co/BsyYER3xk9

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 10, 2017

The protest comes a day after NSUI activists stopped a Delhi Metro train in its tracks on the Yellow Line, protesting against the fare hike. The incident took place at the Vishwavidyalaya station of the busy corridor, connecting north Delhi to Gurgaon. Amid other demands, ABVP is demanding a roll back of fare hike and a provision for student passes in the popular public transport service.

NSUI Delhi president Akshay along with two other activists stopped the metro due to the unjustified fare hike. We demand that the proposed hike be rolled back and students be provided subsidised passes," an NSUI spokesperson said.

The Delhi government has been opposing the fare hike with  Kejriwal even offering to take over the operations of DMRC. The Centre, however, told the Delhi government it would need to pay Rs 3,000 crore annually for five years if it wanted to stop the metro fare hike. Commuters too, were mostly disappointed.

“The hike is not fair at all. Who will be happy with such a steep rise, that too twice in a year,” Ajay, a 40-year-old finance sector employee who commutes from Paschim Vihar to Rajiv Chowk, told IANS.

“It has almost doubled. Till yesterday I was charged Rs 27, today I had to shell out Rs 40 for the same distance,” he said.

Arvind Tripathi, 28, who works for a Japanese firm, said: “I paid Rs 60 today from Bata Chowk to Rajiv Chowk. This is not a good thing. Metro may be incurring losses but who isn’t?”

A salesman working in Rajiv Chowk said he would not mind the fare increase so much if only his income had risen correspondingly. “Let the government increase our income too.”

If the hike is effected, the fares will go up by a maximum of Rs 10. The existing fare structure is: up to 2 kilometres- Rs 10, 2-5 kilometres- Rs 15, 5-12 kilometres- Rs 20, 12-21 kilometres- Rs 30, 21-32 kilometres- Rs 40 and for journeys beyond 32 kilometres- Rs 50.

Barring the minimum fare of Rs 10 for a distance of 0-2 km, which will remain the same, fares have risen from Tuesday for long distance travel. For a distance between two and five kilometres, it will go up from Rs 15 to Rs 20. For the subsequent slabs, it will go up by Rs 10 each, which means the maximum fare will be Rs 60. This is the second fare hike by Delhi Metro this year.

With inputs from PTI