l 6.5 per cent increase in freight rates too l Hike to be effective from June 25
l Suburban, non-suburban commuters to pay almost double for monthly season tickets
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
NEW DELHI: Picking up the previous UPA government’s pending proposal, the Modi government on Friday hiked the passenger fare of all classes by 14.2 per cent and freight rate by flat 6.4 per cent with effect from June 25 in what was condemned by the Opposition parties.
The hardest hit will be the suburban and non-suburban train commuters as they will have to pay almost double amount for the monthly season ticket (MST) — the second class pass at the rate of 30 single journeys instead of current 15 and the first class at four times the second class. The new fare will also apply to the quarterly, half yearly and yearly season tickets.
While the Congress hit back for imposing a new burden on people already reeling under a new bout of inflation and that too without waiting for the Budget in Parliament, Railways Minister DV Sadananda Gowda laughed at the party ruing own parting gift.
The Left parties demanded rollback of the hike as it will have cascading effect on prices of essential commodities, condemned the Modi government for pursuing the UPA government policy and gave a call for nationwide protests. Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa and Rashtriya Janata Dal
(RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, a former railway minister, also pressed for the rollback.
Gowda said he has not added a single paisa to the hikes declared on May 16 on the day election results were out and then put on hold putting the burden on his head.
Four days ago he had forwarded the pending proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to suggest the action to be taken as to notify the revision immediately or wait for inclusion in his railway Budget in July. Gowda’s contention is that “meeting the annual expenditure would not be possible unless the revised rates as finalised by the previous government are implemented.”
The UPA government could not notify the revised rates because of the model code of conduct of the Election Commission. The Railway Board declared them effective from May 20 but then railway minister ordered rollback of the notification to let the new government take the decision.
The announcement said the second class MST shall be charged on the basis of 30 single journeys instead of approximately 15 single journeys while the fare of the first class MST will be charged at four times of second class MST, as already done. The new fare will also apply to the quarterly, half yearly and yearly season tickets.
If the ticket is already booked, the difference of the fare and charges will be recovered either by the ticket examiner (TTE) or the booking and reservation officers before commencement of the journey.
The break-up of the fare hike is: 10 per cent flat increase in all classes plus 4.2 per cent increase on account of fuel adjustment component (FAC) due from April as proposed in the interim railway budget by then Railways Minister Mallikarjun Kharge.
Citing huge losses to the Railways due to increase in the fuel prices, Kharge had for the first time introduced the concept of FAC to be charged on both fares and freight tariffs.
The freight hike of 6.4 per cent also includes 1.4 per cent on account of FAC, while the overall increase in the freight rates will be 6.5 per cent approximately for major commodities, a Railway Ministry press note said.
The announcement includes reduction of the number of the low-rated classes of commodities from four to three, withdrawal of certain concessions to some of them and minimum distance for short lead concession increased from 100 to 125 km.
