BENGALURU: Before BMRCL temporarily put the fare hike on hold, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya had earlier in the day taken his protest against the proposed annual revision of Bengaluru Metro fares directly to commuters. He interacted with passengers at RV Road Metro Station, wearing a T-shirt reading ‘Mr CM, Cut the Drama’ and ‘#FareHikeBeda’ (Don’t hike the fare).
Surya alleged that the Congress government was misleading the public by claiming it had not sought a fare revision. To counter this, he printed excerpts from the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) report on his T-shirt, which he said showed that officials from the state’s Finance and Urban Development departments had sought an upward and automatic annual fare revision before the committee.
Reading out from the report, Surya said State officials cited the government’s weak financial position and its inability to continue providing “shadow cash support” to BMRCL, including loss of reimbursement and interest-free loan support. He claimed the withdrawal of this support triggered steep fare hikes and proposals for annual increases, shifting the financial burden on to commuters.
Interacting with passengers, Surya heard concerns about the hardship caused by the proposed 5 per cent fare hike that was scheduled to take effect from Monday, and demanded that the State government reconstitute the FFC to rationalise fares.
Warning of political consequences, Surya said Bengalureans would respond in the upcoming GBA elections if commuters’ concerns continue to be ignored.