BENGALURU: Following public outrage and sharp political opposition, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Sunday announced that the proposed 5 per cent fare hike, scheduled to take effect Monday, was on hold until further orders.
BMRCL issued a statement saying the February 5 media release announcing the fare revision had been kept on hold until further orders, and a final decision would be taken after a review by the Board. It is said BMRCL kept the fare hike on hold following instructions from the Central government.
In a media release issued on February 5, BMRCL had stated that an annual automatic fare revision of up to 5 per cent would be implemented from February 9, in line with recommendations of the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC). The corporation had said the revision was mandatory under the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, and was binding on BMRCL.
Explaining the rationale, BMRCL said FFC had observed that fares were revised after a long gap and to avoid steep hikes in the future, the committee recommended an annual fare revision. As per this formula, the annual revision was due one year after implementation of the fare hike on February 9, 2025. The proposed increase ranged from Re 1 to Rs 5 across the 10 fare zones on the 96.10km Metro network.
The announcement had triggered strong opposition by BJP leaders, who called the hike an unfair burden on commuters and said it would further cement Bengaluru Metro’s position as the costliest in the country. They also highlighted that the alleged anomalies flagged in the FFC report had not been addressed.
Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya said on Saturday that he spoke to Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, seeking intervention, and according to him, Khattar assured him the fare hike would be put on hold temporarily and the anomalies would be reviewed. Surya also indicated that a fresh FFC could be considered if the state government initiated the process.
Meanwhile, anticipating protests and gatherings at Metro stations ahead of the earlier planned rollout, BMRCL had already approached police seeking security arrangements as a precautionary measure.
State govt falsely blaming Centre: HDK
Union Minister for Heavy Industries HD Kumaraswamy said the state government is falsely blaming the Centre on the Bengaluru Metro fare hike. “Why create conflict with the Centre? In a federal system, there must be a healthy relationship between the Centre and the state. The state government should stop pointing fingers at the Centre for everything. Standing on the streets and abusing the PM, and then sending letters, is a behaviour the state government must change,” he said.
BJP following convenient logic, says Priyank
Taking a swipe at the BJP, IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge said the opposition is following a “convenient logic” of crediting Prime Minister Narendra Modi even for a one-metre extension of a Metro line, while blaming the state government for every one rupee increase in ticket fares. In a social media post, he said Metro projects are to be funded equally by the Centre and the state, but alleged that the Centre failed to release its full 50% share, forcing the Karnataka government to bear nearly 87% of the cost of Metro expansion.
