Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Need of fair pricing and quality service' that was published in Newsband

Need of fair pricing and quality service

The Metro railway service has been launched in Mumbai at last. However, there is a row over fares between the State government and Reliance Infrastructure, the latter holding the majority share in this public-private partnership project. The outcome of this dispute will be determined by the courts.

The 11.4-km elevated Mumbai Metro line has improved connectivity and reduced travel time for thousands of passengers. But Reliance Infrastructure has fixed the fare at Rs.40. The government has opposed this.

Increasing the use of public transport does relieve road congestion, reduces pollution and cuts fuel consumption. But fares should be affordable, particularly to the large number of lower-income group users.

Mumbai is an overpopulated city with thousands of migrants coming in almost every year. State government and Reliance should have both negotiated their financial issues before inauguration of the metro. The government should understand that public transport has to be comfortable and affordable rather than being unnecessarily expensive.

The delay in land allotments and inflation by means of macro economic factors contributed to the cost escalation of the project which in a way the government must also be held responsible. So there is no surprise that a company like Reliance Infra is claiming for revising the fares as it affects their profitability. The government must try to explore alternative finance options so that maximum benefit can be reaped out of similar projects which offer efficient and timely service at affordable cost to the public.

Metro is a mass public transport system and no Mercedes; the project is meant for people who cannot afford. If the government and or its private partner is at fault in the escalation they should bear the burden; not the public. Find out who messed it up and fix them.

All this mess demonstrates dominance of private organization in role of fixing fare without considering government views and pubic concern about increased fares.

Public-Private partnership is much needed for infrastructural projects as a viable source of funding. The private partnership encourages more and more public projects to be realized where there is a shortage of funding from the institutional bodies. Here, the private companies which are interested into the project enter into contractual agreement for implementation of the project and sharing the income post-implementation. This is the time when government should scrutinise the contract on the basis of operational and other overhead costs. It should ensure that the projected cost is not overrun and project delay is minimised. The agreement should clearly indicate the income to be shared between the private and the public companies and the rights of increasing the fare should be with government in consultation with private company which is funding the project. If the project is completed in stipulated time, the project cost would also be in limit and in-turn, the fares would be reasonable.

Never forget that the urban future lies in promoting good public transport, and its success depends on fair pricing and quality service.