Price Arbitrage at Delhi Metro
Delhi Metro is one of the coolest things to have happened to the Delhi Infrastructure. Traveling is not a hassle anymore. You are saved from the Delhi weather, you save on a lot of time and people don’t spit anywhere and if you can believe, people actually take a bath before boarding Delhi Metro.
I love Delhi and like Delhi Metro not only for the convenience it offers. It also offers a price arbitrage opportunity. Delhi Metro uses an automated magnetic token system for ticketing. You can buy tokens for a single journey or you can buy a travel card valid for longer durations or more number of journeys. These travel cards are available in multiples of 50 bucks and a refundable security deposit of 100 bucks. You can thus pay 150 bucks and get a card that would have a travel allowance of 50 bucks. And yes, Delhi Metro gives a 10% added bonus on the amount you put in. In effect I get 55 bucks worth of travel money if I give them 50 bucks.
And this is where things get interesting. Now if I return this card, I get 100 as the refund and I get whatever amount is left on the card, I get that back too. Basically if I return the card without using at all, I can get 210 for putting 200 upfront. We are talking about a ROI of 5% without doing anything at all.
And if someone has the intent and patience, he can stand there all day long and buy and return and buy and return and so on and so forth. I am not even counting the annualized rate of return that one can make on Delhi Metro.
More details about Delhi Metro are available here.
I love Delhi and like Delhi Metro not only for the convenience it offers. It also offers a price arbitrage opportunity. Delhi Metro uses an automated magnetic token system for ticketing. You can buy tokens for a single journey or you can buy a travel card valid for longer durations or more number of journeys. These travel cards are available in multiples of 50 bucks and a refundable security deposit of 100 bucks. You can thus pay 150 bucks and get a card that would have a travel allowance of 50 bucks. And yes, Delhi Metro gives a 10% added bonus on the amount you put in. In effect I get 55 bucks worth of travel money if I give them 50 bucks.
And this is where things get interesting. Now if I return this card, I get 100 as the refund and I get whatever amount is left on the card, I get that back too. Basically if I return the card without using at all, I can get 210 for putting 200 upfront. We are talking about a ROI of 5% without doing anything at all.
And if someone has the intent and patience, he can stand there all day long and buy and return and buy and return and so on and so forth. I am not even counting the annualized rate of return that one can make on Delhi Metro.
More details about Delhi Metro are available here.
Happy birthday Shahrukh Khan
SRK is one person I have started to idolize recently. If I was asked a reason for this sudden spring in admiration, I would not have any answers. Its just that he is one of those people who have achieved whatever they set out to do.
A friend told me about his life and times right from the time he was a schoolboy in Delhi. He has excelled at anything and everything he has put his hands into. Then in one of the interviews he has said he always wanted to conquer the world one day and hasn’t he realized it already (he has turned 42).
There are more things that I would like to write but as always I aint got no time to spare.
And yeah if anyone is actually reading this, please understand that my preferences in life have not changed. Men can also like (read admire) other men.
A friend told me about his life and times right from the time he was a schoolboy in Delhi. He has excelled at anything and everything he has put his hands into. Then in one of the interviews he has said he always wanted to conquer the world one day and hasn’t he realized it already (he has turned 42).
There are more things that I would like to write but as always I aint got no time to spare.
And yeah if anyone is actually reading this, please understand that my preferences in life have not changed. Men can also like (read admire) other men.
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