A week after increasing the fine for tokenless travel from Rs 50 to Rs 500 to check the menace of missing tokens, the BMRCL has reduced the penalty to Rs 200.

An official in the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) said the decision was taken following media reports that quoted commuters questioning the rationale behind the exorbitant hike. "The revised fine will come into effect on Wednesday," he added.

DH was the first to carry a report in this regard. The article 'In Namma Metro, pay more for losing token than 'stealing' it' appeared on November 25.  

"I am glad metro officials have responded positively. It's unreasonable to penalise metro passengers since they are not travelling without  the ticket. In  a moving train, some passengers, especially those who travel with children, may lose tokens. Rs 500 fine was too much for such a mistake," said Shivaraj Kottur, a metro commuter who once paid Rs 500 for losing his smart card.

The BMRCL official said they had to increase the fine to put an end to the menace of token theft. "Many people took away tokens as a memento by paying the meagre Rs 50 as fine. We lose Rs 1,500 tokens per month, which is a serious problem," he added.

For the BMRCL, each microchip-enabled token costs about Rs 35. However, officials said they were exasperated by the number of unaccounted-for  tokens. "We hope Rs 200 will play a balancing part by not being a  burden on honest commuters while deterring those who want to steal them," the official said.

The reduction  has relieved the metro staff who expected quarrels with passengers over the exorbitant fine. "It's alright to impose thousands of rupees  as fine on someone who steals the tokens but not on honest passengers," a staffer said.