Karnataka govt plans regulatory panel; bus fares may be revised more often

BENGALURU: Till now, bus fares have been increased once in a few years. Going forward, you can expect more frequent fare revisions.Amid the controversy surrounding the steep hike in the charges of Namma Metro, the state govt has proposed the formation of a public transport fare regulatory committee.

The new body will be responsible for reviewing and recommending fare revisions for the state's four road transport corporations—KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC, and KKRTC.

The committee will be chaired by either a retired IAS officer who served as an additional chief secretary or a retired judge of the Karnataka high court. It will include two other members: a retired principal secretary or secretary to the govt, and an expert from the industry or a financial specialist.The KSRTC managing director will act as the member-secretary of the committee. The chairperson and members will hold office for a term not exceeding three years.Tuesday, the state govt issued a draft notification proposing the formation of the committee. The notification states the committee will study the financial status of the road transport corporations and suggest fare revisions periodically.According to the notification, all RTCs must submit proposals for fare revisions or surcharges to the committee.

After examining these proposals, the committee will make recommendations. The respective RTC boards may then choose to adopt these recommendations.However, the notification does not mention any provision for public participation through suggestions or objections during the fare revision process.Defending the state govt's decision, transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said, when fare revisions are directly controlled by the govt, political and other factors often lead to delays.

Such postponements have severely impacted the finances of the corporations. Having an independent body to study and recommend fare revisions will prevent such delays."The minister said bus fare revisions may happen at least once in two years in the future. In Feb, BMRCL revised Namma Metro fares based on the fare fixation report led by a former high court Judge. The steep hike of up to 110% was poorly received by Metro passengers.

After public backlash, the fare hike was cut by 30% by rejigging the matrix. However, controversy persisted with opposition figures demanding that BMRCL make the fare fixation report public. The matter is now before the high court.In Jan, all four RTCs raised bus fares by 15%.In 2022, a one-man committee led by retired IAS officer MR Sreenivasa Murthy, formed to revive the RTCs, recommended the creation of a fare fixation committee for timely fare revisions to maintain the corporations' financial health.