Delhi HC issues notice in plea seeking subsidized fare for Delhi Metro

The Delhi High Court yesterday issued notice to the Delhi Government and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in a plea seeking subsidized fare for metro in the national capital..Moved by Congress leader Ajay Maken, the plea is part of an intervention application in a writ petition seeking procurement of disabled friendly means of public transport in the city..A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameshwar Rao asked the State Government and DMRC to file their reply as to why the DMRC fare should not be subsidized..In the application filed through Advocates Aman Panwar and Mudit Gupta, Maken seeks to assist the Court in “directing effective measures to augment and improve public transport in Delhi, specifically the DTC and the Delhi Metro, which in turn will have a very positive effect on the hazardous levels of air pollution caused due to private vehicles.”.The application states that the frequent fare hikes, coupled with the general inflation and depleting DTC bus fleet, have encouraged individuals to shift to private vehicles, which in turn results in increased air toxicity..Noting that the metro fare hike of May 2017 and October 2017 brought the metro users down by about 1.5 lakh and 3 lakh per day respectively, Maken contends that if more passengers are discouraged from taking public transport due to Government’s policy, the air pollution level in the city would only get worse..Hence, it is imperative that the Delhi Government and the Central Government be directed “to subsidize public transport, especially the skyrocketing metro fares, so that people are not adversely encouraged to shift to private transport”, Maken states..Additionally, Maken has also sought a direction to the Delhi and Central Government to approve the Phase-IV detailed project report of DRMC in a time-bound manner..The application has also alleged non-utilization of an Rs. 1500 crore Environmental Fund by the Delhi Government..Maken was represented by Senior Advocate Vikas Singh..The matter would be next heard on September 27..Read Application:.Image taken from here.