'Centre told Delhi chief secy to turn down CM's order to probe metro fare hike'

New Delhi: The Centre has instructed the Delhi Chief Secretary to turn down Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s direction to order a probe into the issue of Delhi Metro’s fare hike and other related issues, the Delhi government said today.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia shared a communication from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to Chief Secretary M M Kutty with reporters suggesting the same, which, he said, indicates the government’s position that Kutty was “stalling the process at the BJP’s behest”.

“DMRC is not a state PSU. It has been organised as a 50:50 equity partnership of the Central government and the state government. Therefore, it is neither Central nor state PSU. It is a Board run government company. Therefore, the state government has no authority to make an enquiry into DMRC affairs,” the letter to Kutty states.

Sisodia said the government was not buying metro’s contention that it had to resort to a fare hike since it was running on losses. “We will ensure that a probe is done. The Delhi Assembly has every right to get a probe done. The House Committee is already conducting one,” he said.

The communication from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, however, clearly states that neither the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi nor the Delhi government has “competence to inquire into metro’s affairs.”

“Why are we even running the metro? To benefit whom? Congress used to deploy the same logic of discoms running on losses to increase power tariff in Delhi. We have never interfered in metro operations. We believe metro isn’t some profit-making company,” Sisodia said.

The fare hike that came into effect on October 10, increased ticket prices to Rs 10 for all travels beyond 5 km. The hike which comes barely five months within the last one will affect every commuter who travels beyond 5 km. The maximum fare, for journeys beyond 32 km, will now be Rs 60.