New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday came down heavily on the Modi government for its dynamic surge pricing system on Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, dubbing it as “anti-people” and an “illegal” move aimed at “stealing” money from public pockets.
“Overburdening the common man by surge pricing formula in garb of dynamic fare reflects the anti-people mindset of Modi government.
“While the courts have quashed the entire surge pricing concept as arbitrary and excessively burdening the consumer in case of Uber and Ola cabs, Modi government seems to have borrowed this ‘illegal’ profiteering idea with a view to steal money from pockets of people of India,” AICC incharge of media department Randeep Surjewala said.
He said the move comes on the heels of an “unprecedented” three-time rise in freight fares, twice increase in railway passenger fare and a hike in platform tickets over last 25 months.
“This proves that Modiji treats the biggest public service provider – Railways, as a profit cow to be milked rather than as a vehicle providing connectivity and access at affordable rates to the poor and ordinary people of this country,” he said.
Passengers travelling by Rajdhani, Shatadbi and Duronto trains will have to shell out between 10 and 50 per cent more under a dynamic surge pricing system to be introduced from September 9, aimed at raking in Rs 500 crore more during the current financial year.
While 10 per cent of the seats will be sold in the normal fare in the beginning, it will go on increasing by 10 per cent with every 10 per cent of berths sold with a ceiling of 50 per cent.
The passenger revenue target for the current fiscal is Rs 51,000 crore as against Rs 45,000 crore in the last fiscal, an increase of Rs 6000 crore for 2016-17.
PTI