LAHORE: The Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) has submitted a proposal to the provincial government to switch to a distance-based fare instead of a flat fare for the entire route on the Orange Line Metro Train in Lahore, sources told Bol News.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that PMA Managing Director Mirza Naseer Inayat has submitted a proposal for a change of fares to the provincial transport secretary a few weeks back.

Sources said that the secretary has handed over the document to the finance department. The department will now seek approval from Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar before presenting it to the provincial cabinet for approval.

The proposal suggests three scenarios to increase the daily commuting of the orange line. It also believes that the change would decrease the burden of subsidies as well.

The commercial operation of the Orange Line Metro Train began in October 2020 with a flat fare of Rs40 per/trip.

Now the proposal suggests the introduction of weekly and monthly cards and special ones for senior citizens, special persons, students, government employees, working women a few others.

As per the PMA proposal, an Rs20 fare would be charged for 0-5km distance, Rs30 for 5-10km, Rs40 for 10-15km, Rs50 for 15-20km, Rs60 for 20-25km and Rs70 for 25 km and above.

The data shows that, currently, the average daily commuting of the orange line is around 75,000, generating close to Rs1.1 billion for the government.

In its proposal, the PMA has suggested that the authorities allow them to test the fares for at least six months. It further added that it expects that the introduction of personalised cards daily commuters could increase to 125,000 and decrease the annual subsidy by Rs350 million.

It may be noted that in the last fiscal year, the government gave a subsidy of Rs11.06 billion to all metro projects including Rs2.69 billion for the orange line.

Similarly, in the fiscal year 2018-19 till 2020-21, the Punjab Government has given a subsidy of over Rs28.5 billion to all metro projects in the province.