Travelling in Delhi Metro gets costlier from today, smart card holders to get 20% discount

New Delhi: Metro rides in the national capital just got costlier with a new passenger fare structure starting at Rs 10 and going up to Rs 50 coming into force on Wednesday (May 10).

Divided into six fare slabs, the new fare structure, Monday through Saturday, is: up to 2 kms -- Rs 10, 2 to 5 kms -- Rs 15, 5 to 12 kms -- Rs 20, 12 to 21 kms -- Rs 30, 21 to 32 kms -- Rs 40, and for journeys of over 32 kms, Rs 50.

Those carrying a smart card and travelling during the off-peak hours -- between 6AM-8AM, 12PM-5PM and 9PM onwards -- will be able to avail a discount of 20 percent.

On Sundays and national holidays (January 26, August 15 and October 2), there would be a discount of around Rs 10 across slabs.

Tariff would rise further from October 1, when the maximum will turn Rs 60. The hikes were announced on May 8 after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) board cleared the recommendations of a fare-fixation committee.

DMRC said the hike, following a gap of seven years, was crucial towards sustaining its operations against the backdrop of rising operational costs, like increase in power tariff, growing manpower bill and maintenance charge.