Delhi Metro hike violation of law, says CM Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that the Delhi Metro’s proposed fare hike, the second fare revision in the last five months, is a clear violation of law and urged the Central government to put the hike on hold.

Mr Kejriwal said the hike will be in violation of the Fare Fixation Committee’s (FFC) recommendation that “there shall be a gap of one year between two fare hikes”, an official statement from the chief minister’s office said. 

It said that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has claimed it is bound by recommendations of the FFC on fare hike, but by ignoring the time gap between two fare hikes, the FFC recommendations are being “selectively implemented” by the DMRC. 

“The Delhi government has never interfered in DMRC functioning, but it can’t remain a mute spectator when commuters are being hit,” Mr Kejriwal said. 

“The Delhi government appeals to the Central government to invoke its powers under Section 86 of the Delhi Metro Railway (Operat-ion and Maintenance) Act, 2002, to put on hold any fare hike till the entire matter is revie-wed jointly by the Cent-ral and Delhi governments,” the statement read. 

Delhi Metro fares are set to increase for a second time this year from October 10. The last increase was in May when the minimum fare went up from `8 to `10 and the maximum from Rs 30 to Rs 50.