Reliance Infra allowed to hike Mumbai Metro fares

Mumbai, Jan. Jan 8: The Bombay High Court Thursday dismissed a plea by the Maharashtra government challenging revised fares proposed by Reliance Infra for the Mumbai Metro One Pvt. Ltd. (MMOPL). A division bench of Chief Justice Mohit Shah and Justice B.P. Colabawalla rejected an appeal by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority against a single judge's earlier order that dismissed MMRDA's petition for putting on hold the fare hike. MMOPL officials said they would take a decision on hiking the fares shortly, following the high court order Thursday. Justifying the fare hike, Reliance Infra contended that it was incurring losses of Rs.85 lakh per day as only 265,000 commuters travelled by Metro compared to the earlier estimates of 410,000 daily. Though they remain tight-lipped on the extent of fare hike, it is expected to be in the range of Rs.10-40 depending on the kilometers distance of journey.