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Maharashtra government constitutes 3-member panel to fix metro fares

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The has finally constituted a three-member fare fixation committee (FFC) to regulate fares of metro rail, particularly the Mumbai Metro operating between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar. This was a subject of dispute between the state government and Reliance Infrastructure.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis made the announcement on FFC through his official Twitter account. The tweet read: "Met Hon UD Minister Venkaiahji. Today he constituted a committee under Retired Justice Padmanabh for tariff fixation for Mumbai Metro. State Govt will bring this to the notice of Hon High Court & will request to stay their order & let the committee decide on tariff issue." (sic)

Fadnavis is on a visit to New Delhi where he even campaigned for the Delhi elections along with prime minister Narendra Modi, apart from meeting Union ministers like Venkaiah Naidu and Prakash Javadekar, minister for environment and forest.

According to sources, FFC is chaired by justice E Padmanabhan. The other two members are from the state government and the central government – former chief secretary of Maharashtra Jayant Banthia and retired law secretary TK Vishwanathan.

This committee will decide how much Mumbaikars should pay to travel in Mumbai Metro. But don't expect any immediate relief or roll back in fares, as that could well be a long process. First, the state government, through the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), will move the court. If the court rules in favour of the state, an application will have to be made to FFC.

If an MMRDA official is to be believed, there is the likelihood of some drama because of the differences in opinion between RInfra and MMRDA. RInfra-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) is likely to act independently and opt for a different set of fare scale.

MMOPL may pitch for Rs 10-20-30-40 fare structure, which is the fare being charged from Friday. MMRDA is however likely to seek nod for the earlier decided Rs 9-12-13 structure.

On Thursday, the Bombay high court had ruled in favour of RInfra (known as Reliance Energy in the petition), permitting them to increase the fare to the amount they desired. Within 24 hours, the Mumbai Metro fare was hiked.

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