Why Is Pune Metro Shutting Down Its Return Journey Ticket Facility?

Pune Metro announced via its official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday that it would be discontinuing the Return Journey Ticket (RJT) facility from March 1.

"Attention Passengers. The Return Journey Ticket (RJT) facility will no longer be available starting 1st March 2024," read the post.

Following this announcement, confusion arose among X users regarding the sudden decision.

A user commented, "Please share valid reasons for such knee-jerk decisions. Everywhere in the world of the travel industry, a return ticket is a norm. It saves time and reduces queues. If you don't want to offer a discount, that's perfectly fine. You can say so and charge, but removing the facility itself is WRONG."

"Don't stop this facility. Charge the full fare if you want but make it available," wrote another.

"This is not good, especially for school children and elders travelling by metro. Please rethink the decision," wrote a third person.

Meanwhile, The Free Press Journal spoke to Hemant Sonawane, Executive Director (Public Relations and Administration), Pune Metro, and he shared the reason behind the discontinuation of the return journey ticket.

"The Return Journey Ticket facility wasn’t very popular among commuters. Besides, some people were not able to understand its technicalities, and this would often result in fines being imposed on them," he said.

Notably, Delhi Metro also doesn't allow the return journey ticket facility, while the Mumbai Metro does.