Mumbai Metro: MMRDA’s plea to stay fare structure rejected
MMRDA had challenged 24 June order by Bombay HC, which also turned down plea to stay fares by R-Infra's MMOPL
Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday rejected Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority’s (MMRDA) plea to stay the fare structure for the first corridor of Mumbai Metro, operated by Reliance Infrastructure Ltd’s (R-Infra) subsidiary Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd (MMOPL), between the city’s western suburb Versova and eastern suburb Ghatkopar.
The MMRDA had challenged a 24 June order by a single-member bench of the Bombay high court, which also turned down the authority’s plea to stay fares announced by the MMOPL, before the division bench. The division bench also refused to grant the stay. It directed both central and state governments to file their affidavits in the matter before the next hearing takes place on 1 September.
The MMRDA wants MMOPL to stick to the fare structure of Rs9-13. Both parties agreed on this fare structure in a concession agreement they signed in 2006. The MMRDA also wants the issue of fare revision to be referred to a fare fixation committee.
MMOPL claims that the project had been delayed by more than three years because of reasons beyond its control because of which the project cost had increased from Rs2,356 crore to Rs4,321 and running the metro service as per the fares fixed in concession agreement is not economically viable.
The MMOPL has announced a fare of between Rs10 and Rs40.
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