Delhi Metro lost over three lakh commuters a day after a steep fare hike came into effect on October 10, an RTI query has revealed.

The metro&#39;s daily average ridership came down to 24.2 lakh in October from 27.4 lakh in September, translating to a fall of around 11 per cent.

The Blue Line, considered the metro&#39;s busiest, lost over 30 lakh commuters, according to data shared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in response to an RTI query by a PTI correspondent.

The 50-km corridor connects Dwarka to Noida. The metro currently has a 218-km network across Delhi-NCR.

The fall, in terms of absolute numbers, was over 19 lakh on the Yellow Line, another busy corridor which connects Gurgaon to north Delhi&#39;s Samaypur Badli, DMRC said.

Ridership on the Violet Line, which connects ITO to Faridabad, plunged by 11.9 lakh in October. The number of riders on the Red Line, from Dilshad Garden to Rithala, came down by 7.5 lakh.

Ridership has come down several notches below the numbers observed in recent years, bucking a trend of rising on the back of the launch of newer sections.

In fact, in October 2016, the metro&#39;s daily average ridership was also 27.2 lakh, despite a comparatively shorter operational route.&nbsp;On October 10, DMRC effected the fare hike, leading to a rise of around Rs 10 for nearly every distance slab. This came barely five months of another hike of up to 100 per cent.

After the first phase of the hike in May, the metro lost nearly 1.5 lakh passengers per day in June.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has mounted a stiff opposition to the hike, leading to a confrontation with the Centre.

DMRC and Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri supported the move saying it was essential to maintain metro&#39;s financial as well as operational health.

He rejected Kejriwal&#39;s opposition, saying the Centre was in no position to disregard the recommendations of a Fare Fixation Committee which had drawn up the revised fare list.

The revised fare structure is: up to 2 km - Rs 10, 2 to 5 km - Rs 20, 5 to 12 km - Rs 30, 12 to 21 km - Rs 40, 21 to 32 km - Rs 50 and for journeys beyond 32 km - Rs 60.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Delhi Metro lost over three lakh commuters a day after a steep fare hike came into effect on October 10, an RTI query has revealed

Delhi Metro lost over three lakh commuters a day after a steep fare hike came into effect on October 10, an RTI query has revealed. The metro's daily average ridership came down to 24.2 lakh in October from 27.4 lakh in September, translating to a fall of around 11 per cent. The Blue Line, considered the metro's busiest, lost over 30 lakh commuters, according to data shared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) in response to an RTI query by a PTI correspondent. The 50-km corridor connects Dwarka to Noida. The metro currently has a 218-km network across Delhi-NCR. The fall, in terms of absolute numbers, was over 19 lakh on the Yellow Line, another busy corridor which connects Gurgaon to north Delhi's Samaypur Badli, DMRC said. Ridership on the Violet Line, which connects ITO to Faridabad, plunged by 11.9 lakh in October. The number of riders on the Red Line, from Dilshad Garden to Rithala, came down by 7.5 lakh. Ridership has come down several notches below the numbers observed in recent years, bucking a trend of rising on the back of the launch of newer sections. In fact, in October 2016, the metro's daily average ridership was also 27.2 lakh, despite a comparatively shorter operational route. On October 10, DMRC effected the fare hike, leading to a rise of around Rs 10 for nearly every distance slab. This came barely five months of another hike of up to 100 per cent. After the first phase of the hike in May, the metro lost nearly 1.5 lakh passengers per day in June. The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government has mounted a stiff opposition to the hike, leading to a confrontation with the Centre. DMRC and Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri supported the move saying it was essential to maintain metro's financial as well as operational health. He rejected Kejriwal's opposition, saying the Centre was in no position to disregard the recommendations of a Fare Fixation Committee which had drawn up the revised fare list. The revised fare structure is: up to 2 km - Rs 10, 2 to 5 km - Rs 20, 5 to 12 km - Rs 30, 12 to 21 km - Rs 40, 21 to 32 km - Rs 50 and for journeys beyond 32 km - Rs 60.

Delhi Metro witnesses steep fall in commuters after fare hike

India, the world&#39;s biggest buyer of vegetable oils, is considering raising import taxes on crude and refined edible oils to protect local farmers, two government officials told Reuters.

Local oilseed crushers are struggling to compete with cheaper edible oil imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina, reducing demand for local rapeseed and soybeans, even after steep fall in oilseed prices.

In August New Delhi had doubled the import tax on crude palm oils to 15 percent and raised the import tax on refined palm oils to 25 percent, increasing the differential in duty by 10 percentage points to encourage local processing.

Despite the hike, prices of key oilseeds such as soybeans and rapeseed are trading below the government set price level in physical market, angering farmers.

&quot;Prices of oilseeds have fallen sharply in last few weeks. There is no option but to raise import duty to support farmers,&quot; said a government official, who declined to be named.

The government could raise import duty by 10 percent for both crude and refined edible oils, another official said.

New Delhi spends about $10 billion a year to import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and relatively smaller quantities of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina.

The government also considering to provide subsidy for exports of soymeal as Indian soymeal is expensive compared to south American supplies, the officials said.

Large inventories and lower prices have fomented a wave of protests by farmers in the big agrarian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s Bharatiya Janata Party.

India, the world&#39;s biggest consumer of pulses, is also contemplating imposing an import duty on yellow peas, the officials said.

Despite the hike, prices of key oilseeds such as soybeans and rapeseed are trading below the government set price level in physical market, angering farmers.

India, the world's biggest buyer of vegetable oils, is considering raising import taxes on crude and refined edible oils to protect local farmers, two government officials told Reuters. Local oilseed crushers are struggling to compete with cheaper edible oil imports from Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Argentina, reducing demand for local rapeseed and soybeans, even after steep fall in oilseed prices. In August New Delhi had doubled the import tax on crude palm oils to 15 percent and raised the import tax on refined palm oils to 25 percent, increasing the differential in duty by 10 percentage points to encourage local processing. Despite the hike, prices of key oilseeds such as soybeans and rapeseed are trading below the government set price level in physical market, angering farmers. "Prices of oilseeds have fallen sharply in last few weeks. There is no option but to raise import duty to support farmers," said a government official, who declined to be named. The government could raise import duty by 10 percent for both crude and refined edible oils, another official said. New Delhi spends about $10 billion a year to import palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia and relatively smaller quantities of soyoil from Brazil and Argentina. The government also considering to provide subsidy for exports of soymeal as Indian soymeal is expensive compared to south American supplies, the officials said. Large inventories and lower prices have fomented a wave of protests by farmers in the big agrarian states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi`s Bharatiya Janata Party. India, the world's biggest consumer of pulses, is also contemplating imposing an import duty on yellow peas, the officials said.

India could raise import duty on vegetable oil: Government sources

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe promised on Thursday an &quot;unprecedented&quot; increase in workers&#39; spending power next year as the government struggles to strike a balance between tax relief and deficit cuts to roll out its reform agenda.

Emmanuel Macron&#39;s ratings have plunged since he won the presidency in May as his team works out the tricky details of implementing campaign promises such as labour reform and spending cuts.

The government has already had to ease the pace of some tax cuts after an audit in July showed the accounts inherited from its predecessor to be in worse shape than initially thought.

In his first major television interview after the summer break, Philippe said the government would go ahead on Jan. 1 with two-thirds of a planned cut in payroll contributions to the health system and jobless benefits.

After the 2 percentage point cut at the start of the year, a further reduction of about 1 percentage point would come in September or October 2018, he said.

&quot;We believe that those who work and create wealth should get an increase in purchasing power. This, I believe, is unprecedented in terms of workers purchasing power,&quot; he said.

Despite the previous government&#39;s overspending, Philippe has pledged to honour an EU commitment to keep the budget deficit to no more of 3.0 percent of economic output for the first time in a decade.

The determination to rein in spending has contributed to Macron&#39;s popularity slide, polls show but is necessary if long-profligate France is to win Germany&#39;s confidence and support for Macron&#39;s reform agenda of euro zone institutions.

The payroll contribution cuts would be financed by an increase in a broader tax covering everything from wages to capital gains and pensions, effectively shifting the burden from workers to retirees and wealthy owners of capital assets.

The pace of the cuts is only part of the equation, with the government due next week to hand in the final version of its plans to make labour market rules more flexible.

Close consultations with unions over the summer have so far kept them from getting restless but it would take only a minor communications misstep to trigger tensions once the reform&#39;s details are public.

Philippe acknowledged that plans for a broad-based cut in housing allowances, was &quot;not intelligent&quot; even though he said it had been written into the budget by the previous government - meaning it will have to be kept as it has been passed by Parliament.

Times are unlikely to get easier any time soon for the government with plans to revamp the jobless benefits system in the coming months and launch a retirement reform next year, a subject that has triggered mass demonstrations in the past.

&quot;Real difficulties are on the horizon, there is a real risk of public opinion breaking down. The risks lie with reforms that we know the French are very reticent about,&quot; said political analyst Gael Sliman with pollsters Odoxa.

Playing in the government&#39;s favour is evidence that the economy is growing strongly, which gives it more slack as it balances its budget priorities while also putting voters in a better mood as it pushes its reforms through.

In the latest sign of the improving economy, industrial confidence rose this month to its highest level in nearly a decade, the INSEE statistics agency&#39;s monthly business morale survey showed on Thursday.

The government has already had to ease the pace of some tax cuts after an audit in July showed the accounts inherited from its predecessor to be in worse shape than initially thought

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe promised on Thursday an "unprecedented" increase in workers' spending power next year as the government struggles to strike a balance between tax relief and deficit cuts to roll out its reform agenda. Emmanuel Macron's ratings have plunged since he won the presidency in May as his team works out the tricky details of implementing campaign promises such as labour reform and spending cuts. The government has already had to ease the pace of some tax cuts after an audit in July showed the accounts inherited from its predecessor to be in worse shape than initially thought. In his first major television interview after the summer break, Philippe said the government would go ahead on Jan. 1 with two-thirds of a planned cut in payroll contributions to the health system and jobless benefits. After the 2 percentage point cut at the start of the year, a further reduction of about 1 percentage point would come in September or October 2018, he said. "We believe that those who work and create wealth should get an increase in purchasing power. This, I believe, is unprecedented in terms of workers purchasing power," he said. Despite the previous government's overspending, Philippe has pledged to honour an EU commitment to keep the budget deficit to no more of 3.0 percent of economic output for the first time in a decade. The determination to rein in spending has contributed to Macron's popularity slide, polls show but is necessary if long-profligate France is to win Germany's confidence and support for Macron's reform agenda of euro zone institutions. The payroll contribution cuts would be financed by an increase in a broader tax covering everything from wages to capital gains and pensions, effectively shifting the burden from workers to retirees and wealthy owners of capital assets. The pace of the cuts is only part of the equation, with the government due next week to hand in the final version of its plans to make labour market rules more flexible. Close consultations with unions over the summer have so far kept them from getting restless but it would take only a minor communications misstep to trigger tensions once the reform's details are public. Philippe acknowledged that plans for a broad-based cut in housing allowances, was "not intelligent" even though he said it had been written into the budget by the previous government - meaning it will have to be kept as it has been passed by Parliament. Times are unlikely to get easier any time soon for the government with plans to revamp the jobless benefits system in the coming months and launch a retirement reform next year, a subject that has triggered mass demonstrations in the past. "Real difficulties are on the horizon, there is a real risk of public opinion breaking down. The risks lie with reforms that we know the French are very reticent about," said political analyst Gael Sliman with pollsters Odoxa. Playing in the government's favour is evidence that the economy is growing strongly, which gives it more slack as it balances its budget priorities while also putting voters in a better mood as it pushes its reforms through. In the latest sign of the improving economy, industrial confidence rose this month to its highest level in nearly a decade, the INSEE statistics agency's monthly business morale survey showed on Thursday.

French PM Edouard Philippe promises voters pay hike

Indian instant messaging platform Hike rolled out an in-app electronic payments wallet on Tuesday in a bid to cash in on rising digital transactions, replicating similar services offered by its backer Tencent Holdings in China.

E-payments have surged in India since a shock ban of high-value bank notes in November last year. Providers such as Paytm, backed by Alibaba and SoftBank Group, have rapidly increased their share of the market amid predictions it will jump nearly 10 times to $500 billion by 2020.

Hike&#39;s wallet, however, is the first such service by a messaging platform in the country and comes ahead of a possible launch of a payment facility by Facebook-owned WhatsApp later this year.

Hike said its wallet will allow instant money transfer among its clients and enable fund transfer to banks using the government-backed United Payments Interface (UPI) system.

The startup has been looking at Tencent&#39;s WeChat services in China and finding ways to adapt them to India&#39;s digital payments market, said Hike Chief Executive Kavin Mittal.

&quot;For sure we talk to Tencent quite often, we are inspired by them and it&#39;s great to have them as a partner,&quot; Mittal told Reuters in an interview.

Hike has partnered Indian private sector lender Yes Bank to facilitate money transfers to banks using the UPI system, Mittal said.

Besides mobile phone bill payments and traditional wallet-to-wallet transfers, Hike will also allow its users to send &quot;blue packets&quot; or envelopes containing digital money to friends, a feature borrowed from WeChat&#39;s &quot;red packets&quot;.

Hike, part of India&#39;s Bharti Enterprises, says it has more than 100 million registered users.

It was launched in December 2012, and has raised over $260 million from investors including Tiger Global, Tencent and Bharti SoftBank - a joint venture between Japan&#39;s SoftBank and Bharti Enterprises.

Headed by Mittal&#39;s father, billionaire Sunil Mittal, Bharti Enterprises&#39; businesses include top Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel and joint ventures in insurance and renewable.

Paytm is India&#39;s biggest electronic wallets provider with 225 million clients. Swedish communications app Truecaller, which has a large user base in India, also started a mobile payment service in the country this year based on the UPI platform.

&nbsp;

Hike's wallet comes ahead of a possible launch of a payment facility by Facebook-owned WhatsApp later this year

Indian instant messaging platform Hike rolled out an in-app electronic payments wallet on Tuesday in a bid to cash in on rising digital transactions, replicating similar services offered by its backer Tencent Holdings in China. E-payments have surged in India since a shock ban of high-value bank notes in November last year. Providers such as Paytm, backed by Alibaba and SoftBank Group, have rapidly increased their share of the market amid predictions it will jump nearly 10 times to $500 billion by 2020. Hike's wallet, however, is the first such service by a messaging platform in the country and comes ahead of a possible launch of a payment facility by Facebook-owned WhatsApp later this year. Hike said its wallet will allow instant money transfer among its clients and enable fund transfer to banks using the government-backed United Payments Interface (UPI) system. The startup has been looking at Tencent's WeChat services in China and finding ways to adapt them to India's digital payments market, said Hike Chief Executive Kavin Mittal. "For sure we talk to Tencent quite often, we are inspired by them and it's great to have them as a partner," Mittal told Reuters in an interview. Hike has partnered Indian private sector lender Yes Bank to facilitate money transfers to banks using the UPI system, Mittal said. Besides mobile phone bill payments and traditional wallet-to-wallet transfers, Hike will also allow its users to send "blue packets" or envelopes containing digital money to friends, a feature borrowed from WeChat's "red packets". Hike, part of India's Bharti Enterprises, says it has more than 100 million registered users. It was launched in December 2012, and has raised over $260 million from investors including Tiger Global, Tencent and Bharti SoftBank - a joint venture between Japan's SoftBank and Bharti Enterprises. Headed by Mittal's father, billionaire Sunil Mittal, Bharti Enterprises' businesses include top Indian mobile carrier Bharti Airtel and joint ventures in insurance and renewable. Paytm is India's biggest electronic wallets provider with 225 million clients. Swedish communications app Truecaller, which has a large user base in India, also started a mobile payment service in the country this year based on the UPI platform.

Hike rolls out India's first payment wallet within messaging app

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