The Union Government on Monday told the Bombay High Court that the fare fixation committee for the Mumbai Metro was yet to be appointed.
A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah, asked the government to file an affidavit by September 18 explaining the procedure followed by it to appoint the committee.
The court had earlier asked the government to file an affidavit by September 1 informing whether such a committee had been formed. On Monday, the government asked for more time.
The court had asked the Centre a month ago to set up the fare fixation committee latest by September 30. Such a committee has been contemplated under the Central Metro Act.
On the last occasion, the High Court had accepted the proposal of Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) and Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) to slash the fares from Rs 10-40 bracket to Rs 10-20 until the fares were decided by the committee.
Reliance is the major partner of the consortium which floated MMOPL, the Metro operator. Maharashtra government’s infrastructure planning agency MMRDA, another partner of consortium, has disputed the current fares.
RInfra and MMOPL had told the court earlier that until the FFC decided the fares, they would keep the rates at Rs 10 for a distance up to 3 kms, Rs 15 up to 8 kms and Rs 20 for longer journey (up to 20 kms) till September 30.
The Court is hearing an appeal of Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) against a single bench order denying it the right to decide fares.
