HC to hear MMRDA`s appeal on Metro rail fares on July 7

Mumbai: Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has challenged in the Bombay High Court an order of its single-judge bench holding that the state government agency had no right to decide the fare of the Mumbai Metro rail which connects Versova in the west to Ghatkopar in the east. The appeal filed by MMRDA, a state agency, is likely to come up for hearing on July 7 before a bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah.

On June 24, Justice RD Dhanuka had rejected MMRDA`s petition challenging the Metro fares. MMRDA had pleaded that a minimum fare of Rs 9 and maximum fare of Rs 13 should be charged for the rail corridor as per the agreement between the parties, while the operator-- Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL)--announced higher fares ranging between Rs 10 to Rs 40. Justice Dhanuka, in his order, had also asked the Central government to direct the fare fixation committee (FFC) to expeditiously fix the tariff of the 11.4-km rail corridor. According to MMRDA, the fares had been decided collectively by all the stake-holders earlier and RInfra cannot change them unilaterally without following a due procedure.