‘Deliberate attempt to mislead public’: Congress, BJP square off again over Bengaluru Metro fare hike

“Bengaluru Metro fare hike again. The corrupt Congress government, which has looted the tax money of Kannadigas and emptied the treasury, is now ruthlessly pickpocketing from passengers. Respected Siddaramaiah sir, the Bengaluru Metro travel fare is already the highest in India,” the Leader of the Opposition in the state legislature, R Ashok, said on Friday.

“The Metro fare hike proposal and fare increase are matters concerning the state, and the government should immediately stop this dacoity,” the BJP leader said.

In response, Siddaramaiah stated that under the Metro Railways (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002, Metro fares are not decided by the state but are “determined by an independent Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) constituted solely by the Government of India through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs”.

“Neither the State Government nor the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation has the legal authority to override or disregard these recommendations,” Siddaramaiah said.

“To now blame the Karnataka Government for a decision legally imposed by the Union framework is not just dishonest, it is a deliberate attempt to mislead the public. Therefore, attributing the fare revision to the Karnataka Government is factually incorrect and misleading,” he added.

Siddaramaiah has said that he would urge the Centre to reconsider the fare levels recommended by the Fare Fixation Committee and “explore mechanisms to moderate or rationalise fares, especially for daily commuters, students, and low-income groups”.

Tejasvi Surya flags errors

The BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya, who is a vocal espouser of the cause of Metro commuters in Bengaluru, has claimed that the revised fare calculation was riddled with errors and has written to the Centre to set up a new FFC.

“The 2025 Fare Fixation Committee for Bengaluru Metro, constituted under Section 34 of the Metro Railway Operations and Maintenance Act, 2002, recommended a fare revision effective from 09.02.2025, for Namma Metro. This revision, ostensibly calculated on the basis of the 2016 DMRC Fare Fixation Committee’s formula, has resulted in an average increase of fares by 50 per cent and raised the maximum fare from 60 to ₹90. This has also made Bengaluru metro the most expensive in the country,” the BJP MP said in a letter.

Surya has said that there are errors in the fare revision due to the selection of the wrong base year of 2016-17 for the computation of the operating costs, resulting in a deviation from the standard fare revision methodology.

Fare rise by 5 per cent

The Bengaluru Metro is set to see a rise in ticket prices by 5 per cent from February 9, with fares rounded to the nearest rupee when the increase exceeds 50 paise. The minimum fare will rise from Rs 10 to Rs 11, and the maximum fare from Rs 90 to Rs 95.

Currently, the Bengaluru Metro charges Rs 10 for journeys up to 2 km and Rs 90 for trips beyond 25 km. The fares will reinforce Namma Metro’s status as India’s most expensive Metro system.

A significant fare revision conducted by the BMRCL last year had triggered a furore. Last year, BMRCL raised prices by over 100 per cent in some categories. Following a public backlash, the hike was capped at 71 per cent.