Government: Concessional fares for senior citizens and students possible for Mumbai and Delhi Metro
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- January 2nd, 2018
The Government informed the Lok Sabha that it will now be possible to consider concessional fares for senior citizens and students on metros in Mumbai and Delhi, after a new Fare Fixation Committee, a statutory body, is established.
Replying to a question on concessional fares in Calcutta Metro, Union Urban Development Minister, Hardeep Puri said, "There is a crucial difference between the Calcutta Metro run by the Indian Railways and the rest of the metro systems because the rest of the metro systems are run on the basis of tokens and smart cards."
He recalled in 2016, the Fare Fixation Committee of the Delhi Metro had considered a system of concessional fare, but they found that they were not technologically ready at that point of time.
"It is my view, after having studied this issue for about three months or so, that it should be possible for the Government to recommend concessional fares for senior citizens and students, but the fixation of those fares is not done by the Government," said Puri.Explaining how a fare fixation structure of the Metro was insulated from the competitive and populist politics which normally Governments can succumb to, the minister said, "There is a Fare Fixation Committee, which is a statutory body, headed by either a sitting judge of the High court or a retired judge and comprises of two members of Additional Secretary level officer, one each from the Central Government and the State Government."
He said the Fare Fixation Committee of the Delhi Metro had submitted its report in September, 2016. Puri added, "I think, in the case of the Mumbai Metro because the High Court has thrown that out - we would be happy to make that recommendation."
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