MUMBAI: The minimum and maximum Metro fares will be Rs 10 and Rs 40 when the 12-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar ( VAG ) corridor opens.

The cost of a ride on the Metro will work out to roughly 1.5 times the current BEST bus fare for a given distance.

A notification issued in 2009 places the Metro under the Central Metro Act rather than the Tramways Act it was under earlier, vesting power in the Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd (MMOPL) to fix the initial fare while subsequent tariff is to be approved by the fare fixation committee.

The MMOPL may justify the fare structure of Rs 10-40 by citing the 2004 detailed project report (DPR) that is the basis of the concession agreement, said an official involved in the preparation of the DPR.

“The DPR states that the Mumbai Metro fare should be 1.5 times the BEST ordinary bus fares,” the official said.

The current bus fare between Versova and DN Nagar is Rs 6 while between Verosva and Ghatkopar it is Rs 25. Without subsidy, the minimum and maximum fare of BEST would be Rs 7 and Rs 34.

“The minimum and maximum [Metro] fare would be Rs 9 and Rs 38 if the 1.5 times formula is applied to the non-subsidized fare of the BEST; it is logical to round it off to the multiple of 10 and 40 as MMOPL, unlike BEST, is not entitled to any subsidy,” the official said.

An MMOPL official said Metro would also offer more comfort and speed than any other form of public transport. “We will obviously fix the fare on the basis of affordability and sustainability of the project,” the official said.

The government had arrived at a fare of Rs 9-13 on the basis of BEST bus fares in 2004 with the provision that the fare be revised by 11% every four years. On February 7, the Union urban development ministry told the state that the initial fare shall be fixed by MMOPL as provided in the Central Metro Act.

“The Metro fares should be based on the 2014 indices and not on the ones decided in 2004 as there are things like inflation and appreciation in forex and power tariff to account for,” the official said.

