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The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited's Managing Director M Maheshwar Rao on Thursday said there is scope for calibration of recently hiked fares.
He said this after the BMRCL came under sharp criticism for introducing steep hike in Metro Rail fares. In some cases the fare hike was over 100 per cent prompting Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to intervene.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference here, Maheshwar Rao however said, there will be no fare revision but only 'calibration,' in effect meaning easing of hike for some stages without disturbing the basic structure of revision.
The calibration proposed by BMRCL without diluting the provisions of the Metro Railways (Operaton and Maintenance) Act will provide relief to the 46 per cent of commuters, Mr Rao said.
"The committee had given us a methodology to fix fares. We see some scope for corrections and calibration in the details," the BMRCL chief said.
"We were able to find out that in some cases the hike is over100 per cent or 90 per cent. Some people have complained that those who were paying Rs 18 are now spending Rs 40 for the same distance. Some people say that with Metro card the fare comes to Rs 36 (since there is five per cent concession on card user). Some people said that those who were paying Rs 22 earlier are now paying Rs 50," the BMRCL MD said.
Mr Rao said they are correcting some errors in calculation of stages which will ease the fare hike.
"Out of the total 7.5 lakh to 8.5 lakh rides everyday, around three lakh people will get relief by these corrections. Because we will be able to reduce the jump," he explained.
He added that the change has been done without diluting any of the recommendations, board discussions and the provisions of the Metro Railways Act.
Rao said for the past four to five years the BMRCL had been requesting for fare fixation.
"Last Sunday it (fare hike) came into effect and then we got the information that there was abnormal hike. People posted price comparison in social media. We too reviewed based on the fare matrix to check whether there is scope for corrections. We too discussed with the board members," the BMRCL MD said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, some MLAs had asked the BMRCL to review it and people too had given representations, he explained.
The BMRCL Board held meetings in this connection since Wednesday.
Fare fixation committee recommendations are binding on the Metro Rail Board as per the Metro Railways Act, he said.
Mr Rao said the Metro Rail has to go by the statute and it has to function for the benefit of people.
Many people think that the BMRCL is going to take huge benefit by increasing fare which was not true, he said.
"The total loan repayment that is to be made over the next four years ranges between Rs 770 crore Rs 2,700 crore including principal and interest. Government gives us principal and the interest part has to be borne by the Metro Rail," the MD said.
Along with that the BMRCL has to make provision for depreciation such as replacing the rolling stock and other equipments over a period of time.
"So whatever we do we are always going to be a loss making organisation which has been subsidised by the Government. What we can do is to run it efficiently and think how to give best services to the people," Rao explained.
He underlined that a lot of capital investment is required to run the BMRCL and the fare hike was done for that.
A statement issued by the BMRCL said Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's fare at present is from Rs.10 to Rs. 60.
"However, this fare structure was fixed in 2017 and since then about 8 years have gone. Hence comparison with it is not appropriate," the statement read. Minimum fare of Mumbai Metro is also Rs.10 but the maximum is Rs.80, it further said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News Agency staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)