Kochi Metro says fare reduction not a fair idea now

NATPAC proposal for Rs7 minimum fare unacceptable to Kochi Metro

CL Jose

KOCHI: A fare reduction by Kochi Metro now seems almost ruled out as the management has refused to accept the suggestions from the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) on the same.

Talking to businessbenchmark.news, the managing director of Kochi Metro, Loknath Behera, said the NATPAC proposals on fares were not acceptable to Kochi Metro.

It was while talking to myfinpoint some time in October last year, during an interview, that Behera mentioned about Kochi Metro having approached NATPAC to explore the possibilities of a fare rationalisation.

NATPAC officials explained to businessbenchmark.news that it has suggested to Kochi Metro management that the minimum fare be reduced to Rs7 from the current Rs10, and proportionally reduce the fares charged on all slabs, but retaining the maximum fare at the same level.

It’s sad no more ‘Happy Hours’

But strange enough, not only that NATPAC proposal for the fare reduction was not accepted, but the ‘Happy Hours’ that used to offer discounted fares at 50 per cent during off-peak hours were gradually withdrawn fully.

That said, a 10 per cent discount offered through the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) platform continues as a relief to the passengers, who opt to use such payment modes.

Other deterrents

It’s not the fares per se that deter the passengers from embracing the Metro travel in Kochi. On one hand, Metro doesn’t cover all city routes as the regular city buses do.

More importantly, the bus fares are far lower than that of Metro though it’s quite understandable that Metro fares are bound to be higher than bus fares.

Another shortcoming with Kochi Metro, according to NATPAC, is the relatively long ‘ingress time’ that can extend up to 9 minutes at certain stations.  (Ingress time refers to the time it takes for passengers to enter a transportation system or facility).

A detailed study on how to improve the ridership in Kochi Metro is yet to take off as the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the same between Kochi Metro and NATPAC is still hanging fire as certain legal vetting are yet to be completed.

“However, we have submitted the particular report on fare rartionalisation about three months ago, though was not acceptable to the management,” the NATPAC official added.

Though it’s a given that Metros are unlikely to be profitable for the governments or any entities that run them, an ever-growing loss statement may not be digestible now to a state like Kerala that’s going through one of its worst financial crises.

During the interview with myfinpoint mentioned above, Loknath Behera has stated that he is not particularly worried about why his company is not earning a profit, as the primary mandate of the Metro is to provide quality transportation to the public.