Mumbai: The Mumbai Metro company told the Bombay High Court on Monday it is bleeding Rs. 80 lakh to Rs. 90 lakh a day, in a plea against the proposed fare hike.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice M S Sonak is hearing petitions filed by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA); a petition that challenges the report of the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) as well as the proposal of Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) to hike fares.
After the Metro operator declared the proposed initial fare structure, MMRDA, a stake holder in MMOPL, approached the High Court insisting the fares should be Rs 9-11-13, as provided in the Concession Agreement signed by MMOPL in March 2007. The authority contended that as per stipulations of the agreement, the fares should be Rs. 9 for the first two km, Rs. 11 for 2-5 km and Rs 13 for 5-8 km. Meanwhile, the stay on the fare hike in the Metro that runs from Ghatkopar to Versova will continue.
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Senior counsel Janak Dwarkadas appearing for MMOPL said the company is bleeding Rs. 80 lakh to Rs. 90 lakh a day and they have no choice but to increase tariffs. He also said that as a private body, it is giving quality service by providing air conditioning, escalators, toilets, hygiene, lifts, cleanliness, safety, security. He added the Metro came up to avoid pollution and congestion under the National Urban Transport Project.
The Metro, he said, provides for an alternative to Mumbaikars from overcrowded local trains. He further said it is not looking at profit; that it was talking about Rs 10 “here and there” and that when the Metro began, it saw an average commuter traffic of up to 3 lakh on a weekday. Earlier on, he had also said the Metro, “is not for anybody and everybody.”