Populism To Kill The Best

The fuss over Delhi Metro’s fare hike is a test case of how to run such fast-spreading networks

- Zia Haq

The 2.6 million-odd daily comm­uters travelling on Delhi ­Metro, by far an efficient system, have had little to gripe about the swanky network. ­People marvel at the sight of its sleek trains snaking around the city. The love affair seems soured of late, with the network’s dec­ision this May to raise fares—the first time in eight years.

Political parties and the Delhi government are in up arms. Commuters too are fretting over the hike in a country where populist politics ensures public utilities are priced rock-bottom low. How low? One yardstick is whether a utility—anything from power to water supply—is all­owed to generate enough revenue to recover maintenance costs, if not the upfront capital cost of setting it up. (Even subsidy-supporting economists now agree on the need to realise the upkeep costs from consumers, if not the latter.)

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which is the public firm that runs the system, therefore, finds itself in a ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t’ situation. If the Metro doesn’t recover its upkeep costs, it is bound to sputter. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is opposed to the hike, wants to put fare revisions on hold. He sent that req­uest to the Centre, which responded by saying that deferring the hike was possible only if the Delhi government pays an average of Rs 3,220.8 crore for the next five years to the DMRC to make up for the forgone fare hike. In response, Kejriwal has said his government would pay 50 per cent of the amount if the Centre pays the other half. The new fares, meanwhile, have taken effect. More than a standoff, it’s now a spat bet­ween the urban development ministry and the Delhi government.