BENGALURU: Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has written to both the Centre and the state government opposing the proposed increase in Namma Metro fares and urged that the planned annual hike be put on hold, citing unresolved anomalies in the fare fixation process and requested the reconstitution of the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC).
In letters addressed to Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and BMRCL Managing Director Ravishankar J, the MP flagged what he described as serious errors in the FFC recommendations.
Surya pointed out that the 2025 Fare Fixation Committee, constituted under the Metro Railway Operations and Maintenance Act, 2002, led to an average fare increase of about 50%, raising the maximum ticket price from Rs 60 to Rs 90 and making Bengaluru Metro the most expensive in the country. He said the FFC had also recommended an automatic annual fare revision of up to 5%, which is scheduled to take effect from next month.
The MP said a review of the FFC report revealed multiple arithmetic errors, particularly use of 2016-17 as the base year for calculating operating costs, which he said deviated from standard fare revision methodology. He said despite these anomalies being flagged earlier, including during in-person meetings, they remain uncorrected.
Surya has requested the Union government to reconstitute a new Fare Fixation Committee to rectify the anomalies and rationalise fares. He also sought that the proposed annual fare hike be put on hold until the issues are addressed.