MUMBAI METRO LAUNCH PROMOTIONAL FARE

To woo people to commute in the city's first Metro during off-peak hours in morning, its operator MMOPL has decided to offer a promotional fare of Rs five between any two stations on the stretch on a trial basis. The facility can be availed from tomorrow and will remain valid till Wednesday (June 25), excluding Saturday and Sunday. Mumbai Metro One (MMOPL) had earlier announced a promotional fare of Rs 10 for the first 30 days from June 8 on the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor, for a single one-way trip between any two stations. "This is an offer which MMOPL would introduce on a trial basis for a week. This first of its kind initiative is aimed at encouraging people to travel during off-peak hours between 5.30 am and 8 am," a release issued here said. Commenting on the initiative, MMOPL spokesperson said, "This initiative would be a boon for the non-peak hour commuters. Those who would be buying tokens between 5.30 am and 8 am, will be able to travel by metro at a flat rate of Rs 5. Similarly, the smartcard users also would get this benefit. Only Rs 5 would be deducted from the stored value in their cards if they exit the metro between 5.30 am and 8 am." However, to avail this special discount, a commuter will have to use his token within next half an hour of its purchase or else the token will expire, the release said. "This step would attract more people to commute by the metro. The special off-peak hour discount would be applicable only on week days," the spokesperson added. It may be noted that Reliance Infrastructure's arm MMOPL has entered into a legal battle with the Maharashtra government over fixation of fares for the 11.4 km corridor. MMOPL has fixed and notified fares of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 30 and Rs 40 under section 33 of the Central Metro Act 2002. However, the government has challenged this fare structure saying as per the initial concession agreement the fares were fixed at to Rs Nine (upto 3 kms), Rs 11 (from 3 to 8 kms) and Rs 13 (for more than 8 kms).