BENGALURU: Following public outrage and sharp political opposition, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Sunday announced that the proposed 5% Metro fare hike, scheduled to take effect from Monday, has been put on hold until further notice.
BMRCL issued a fresh statement saying that the February 5 media release announcing the fare revision would remain on hold until a review by the Board is completed. The corporation stated that the decision to pause the hike follows instructions from the central government.
In its February 5 release, BMRCL had stated that an annual automatic fare revision of up to 5% would be implemented from February 9, in line with the recommendations of the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC). The corporation noted that the revision was mandatory under the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, and therefore binding on BMRCL.
Explaining the rationale, BMRCL said the FFC had observed that fares had not been revised for a long period and, to avoid steep increases in the future, recommended an annual fare revision. Under this formula, the next revision was due one year after the implementation of the FFC-recommended fares on 9 February 2025. The proposed increase ranged from Re 1 to Rs 5 across the 10 fare zones on the 96.10 km Metro network.
The announcement triggered strong opposition from BJP leaders, who described the hike as an unfair burden on commuters and warned it would reinforce Bengaluru Metro’s reputation as the costliest in the country. They also highlighted alleged anomalies in the FFC report that they claimed had not been addressed.
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya said on Saturday that he had spoken to Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, seeking intervention. According to Surya, Khattar assured him that the fare hike would be temporarily put on hold and that the anomalies would be personally reviewed. Surya also indicated that a fresh FFC could be considered if the state government initiated the process.
Meanwhile, anticipating protests at Metro stations ahead of the previously planned rollout, BMRCL had already approached the police to arrange security as a precautionary measure.