Metro should work out pricing models that strike a balance

Its benefits cannot be measured only through the yardstick of profit and loss

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has justified the recent hike in the city’s metro fares on financial grounds. According to the agency, the increase which came into effect on Tuesday, was necessary to cover rising input costs and to keep providing “world class services to passengers”. Seen in isolation, the financial viability argument appears sound. In the past eight years, the input cost for metro services has increased by more than 200 per cent in repairs and maintenance alone. It incurred a loss of nearly ~350 crore in 2016-17. But there are reasons more compelling that make it imperative for the government to subsidise public transport, including the metro.

In June last year, it had an average daily ridership of a little more than 27 lakh that included students, people from the working classes, blue-collar workers and middle-level executives. But in what should have been a message to the agency, the average daily ridership fell to about 25 lakh after the last fare hike in May. It is nobody’s case that metro fares should not be revised. The fares did not undergo revision for eight years since 2009. This year they have been hiked twice. As India's cities expand, the metro is likely to be an important constituent of the transport mix. It is imperative, therefore, that the agencies in charge of them work out pricing models that do not stress the metro’s operations and at the same time ensure that commuters are not overly taxed.