A day before Diwali, when crowds thronged some Delhi Metro stations, they were in for a shock. There were hand-written sheets pasted on glass panes announcing a minimum add value charge of Rs 200 per smart card.
Many families, migrant workers and students going home for Diwali were caught unaware and were seen either queuing up for tokens or arguing with Metro staff, who themselves seemed a harried lot.
At Malviya Nagar station, a family travelling to a nearby State was seen appealing that recharging three smart cards would drain them of Rs 600 in one go.
“It is not easy for people like me to shell out Rs 200 at one go. As it is, the Metro authorities did not give prior notice, so I do not have that much cash to spare,” said a student, who had to catch a train for her home town.
Delhi Metro recently hiked the minimum recharge amount from Rs 50 to Rs 100, which itself is a problem for commuters, such as domestic workers, daily wagers and migrant students, who eke out their daily existence on shoe-string budgets.
“The least Delhi Metro could have done was given prior notice,” said a man at Central Secretariat station.
Daily commuters found this surprising as Delhi Metro is particular about making prior announcements, such as station or car parking closures and train delays.
When asked why the Delhi Metro decided to hike the minimum amount without prior notice, a staff member said, “We ourselves were caught unaware and have had to deal with public ire since morning.”
Next day, the minimum recharge value was withdrawn. When asked why it was imposed and then rolled back, a Delhi Metro official told Business Line , that it was done on “experimental” basis and had been withdrawn.
However, a station staff member said it had been withdrawn after a public outcry but may be reintroduced once Delhi elections, due on December 4, are over. Delhi Metro authorities did not respond to queries on how the Rs 200 minimum recharge value would help Metro finances, as well as the total number of smart cards in circulation.
About 17,000 smart cards are sold every day from the Delhi Metro network, a Delhi Metro official said. Currently, about one crore smart cards are in circulation. Increasing the minimum recharge value by Rs 100 would have meant an incremental income of at least Rs 17 lakh a day, excluding the pool of regular users. About 70 per cent of Metro commuters use smart cards. As of today, DMRC has ridership of around 2.5 million commuters a day.