Panel appointed to look into Mumbai Metro fare hike

Facing flak for the hike in Mumbai metro fare, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said the State government would move the Bombay High Court to stay its order until a committee decided on the fare.

Mr. Fadnavis, who was in Delhi on Saturday, met Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to discuss the issue.

‘Let panel decide’

He later tweeted that the Minister had appointed Justice (Retd.) Padmanabh Committee to fix the fare.

“The State government will bring this to the notice of the High Court and will request it to stay the order. Let the committee decide on the fare,” he said.

The Bombay High Court on Thursday passed an order in favour of Reliance Infrastructure–led Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) to change fares of Mumbai Metro in the range of Rs 10 to Rs. 40.

The State government had requested the court that the promotional fare of Rs 10 to Rs. 20 be continued for another three weeks to allow it to approach the Supreme Court.

Criticism

Following the court order, the BJP-led Maharashtra government faced criticism for failing to present its side effectively in the court.

It also turned into a political blame-game after the BJP accused the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government of signing a contract which favoured the company and not the people.