Centre Proposes Amendments to Metro Railways Law; Penalties Increased for Offences

The Centre has proposed amendments to the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 through the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, under which penalties for drunkenness, taking offensive materials or demonstration have been increased from the existing ₹500 to ₹2,500.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada.

The proposed amendments seek to replace certain criminal punishments with monetary penalties, increase penalty amounts, introduce specific definitions, update statutory references and modify the chapter heading.

In Section 10, the Bill proposes to substitute the reference to "section 21 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860)" with "clause (28) of section 2 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023)".

Further, in Section 59(1), covering drunkenness or nuisance or spitting or sitting on the floor in the train or quarrelling, and Section 60(1), covering taking offensive materials, the provision of punishment with a fine which may extend to ₹500 is proposed to be replaced with a penalty which may extend to ₹2,500.

In the past, there have been several instances of commuters travelling in a drunken state in the Metro. Recently, in two reported cases, passengers were found on the tracks. On a daily basis, male passengers are seen travelling in the female coach.

If any commuter writes or pastes anything in compartments and refuses to take it down, then under Section 62 (3), the existing provision of imprisonment up to six months, or fine up to ₹1,000, or both, is proposed to be replaced with a penalty which may extend to ₹10,000.

Similarly, in Section 64(1), relating to unlawful entry (including entering a coach reserved for women), the provision of imprisonment up to three months, or fine up to ₹250, or both, is proposed to be replaced with a penalty which may extend to ₹5,000.

As of now, the fine under Sections 59(1) and 60(1) is ₹200, under Section 62(3), it is ₹500 and under Section 64(1) it is ₹250.

The chapter heading in Chapter XI is also proposed to be changed from "Offence and Penalties" to "Offences and Contraventions".

As part of the amendments, in Section 2(1) of the Act, a new clause (ba) is proposed to define "demonstration" as a public display of group opinion or feelings involving protests, rallies, marches, gatherings or processions, sit-ins and picketing, which may disrupt Metro operations and inconvenience the public.

Further, a new clause (t) is proposed to define "ticket" as any authority to travel, including ticket, token, smart card, multimodal transport card or any other travel instrument authorised by the Metro rail administration