The Bombay High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition filed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) challenging a fare hike effected in the recently-opened Mumbai Metro by Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd (MMOPL), a consortium comprising Reliance Infrastructure and Veolia Transport.
Following a tussle on the initial tariff for the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro, the MMRDA filed a petition seeking arbitration and also an injunction to the fare hike notified by the MMOPL.
Justice R. D. Dhanuka made it clear that while the initial fare could be fixed by the MMOPL, any subsequent change would have to be decided by the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC).
The court dismissed the MMRDA’s submission that the Metro fare was already fixed by agreement.
The court also directed both the parties to constitute an arbitration tribunal at the earliest and seek speedy disposal of any future disputes.
The MMOPL has constructed the 11.4km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer model.
