By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Thursday said it was not hiking fares for now.
“At present, there is no decision regarding increase in fares of Delhi Metro services. Any such revision in fares will be proposed after consulting the board of directors of the DMRC,” a statement said Thursday.
The clarification comes in the wake of speculation over a fare hike after power tariff for the DMRC was increased. The power rates have been increased to Rs.5 per unit from Rs.3.80 per unit for the DMRC, a 31.57 percent hike.
“The hike in the power tariff will impact the operational expenses on electricity of the Metro. If there is a revision on fare, that would be done considering the realistic expenditure incurred by the DMRC,” the statement said.
According to DMRC, the power consumption amounts to 30 percent of the operational cost of Delhi Metro. With the new rates coming into effect, the operational cost would go up to 40 percent – an additional expenditure of Rs.100 crore annually.
However, a DMRC official said, “The increase in power tariff will certainly have an impact, though we have not taken any immediate decision regarding fare revision.”
Delhi Metro last increased its fares in November 2009. The minimum fare was increased from Rs.6 to Rs.8, and the maximum fare was raised from Rs.22 to Rs 30. That was the third time Delhi Metro had revised fares since it began operations in 2002.
The Delhi Metro normally makes over 2,700 trips a day, covering about 70,000 km and carrying around 1.8 million passengers on weekdays.