Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is all set to increase the fare starting October 3rd. The prices were officially hiked in May this year, however, the implementation was slotted to take place in two phases. The first phase of price hike became effective starting 10th May and the second phase will become effective starting October.
Due to Sunday on 1st and Gandhi Jayanti on 2nd October, the fare will be revised from Monday. The latest fare charge will have a maximum fare of INR 60 for travel of more than 32 kilometres. For travel of up to 2 kilometres, the fare remains INR 10. For travel up to 5 kilometres, the fare has been revised to INR 20 from INR 15. New fare for travel within 5-12 kilometres travel range will be INR 30, INR 40 for travel within 12-21 kilometres and INR 50 for travelling within 21-32 kilometres.
Before the revision in May this year, DMRC had last revised fare in 2009. Since then, the corporation was asking for a revise in fare, citing reasons like increased operational cost and labour wages. It had finally got the approval of increasing the fare in two phases.
The initial increase in the fare wasn’t too well for DMRC, as it saw 1.5 lakh fewer passengers in June 2016 as compared to June 2015. However, according to DMRC, the decreasing footfall is not a matter of concern as metro still remains the most convenient mode of transportation for millions of individuals.
During the financial year 2015-16, DMRC made an operating income of INR 4,344.25 crores. The expenditure in the said year amounted to INR 2,199.65 crores. However, after adding the employee benefits expenses, depreciation and amortization expenses, the final figures showed a deficit of INR 708 crores. With this increase in fare, DMRC hopes that the issue of increasing deficit will be addressed. With this, the corporation is also hoping to revise the metro fare every year.