Amid commuter ire, Bengaluru Metro annual 5% fare hike on hold; BJP–Congress trade charges

BENGALURU: Facing sharp public anger and a political storm, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRCL) Sunday put on hold its plan to raise fares by 5%, a revision that was to kick in on Monday.

BMRCL did not announce a new date for fare revision implementation.In a statement, BMRCL said the "implementation of the Annual Fare Revision has been kept on hold until further orders" and that a final decision would be taken after a review by its board.The pause came barely days after the corporation announced the increase, triggering protests from commuters and a war of words between the BJP functionaries and the Congress-led state govt.Bengaluru Metro is already considered the costliest urban rail network in the country after fares were raised by up to 71% last year on the recommendation of the Fare Fixation Committee. The same panel had proposed an annual revision of 5%, which BMRCL was preparing to implement.

Under the now-suspended plan, the minimum fare would have risen from Rs 10 to Rs 11 and the maximum from Rs 90 to Rs 95. The corporation has argued that higher fares are needed to meet financial commitments, even though it reported an operational profit of Rs 229.4 crore.

Commuter groups criticised the move, pointing out that salaries and public transport use have not grown at the same pace as ticket prices. Several citizen forums announced demonstrations outside metro stations, forcing political parties to take positions.Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya claimed credit for the reversal, saying his intervention with Union housing and urban affairs minister Manoharlal Khattar led to the decision.

Calling the pause a victory for the city, Surya wrote on X that the relief was temporary and urged the state govt to restore shadow cash support that earlier administrations provided to keep travel affordable. He also demanded a new fare fixation committee for a fair and transparent review.Karnataka IT-BT minister Priyank Kharge had, earlier in the day, accused the Centre of starving BMRCL of funds after 2014. He said Metro projects are meant to be financed in a 50:50 ratio, but the Centre failed to contribute its share, forcing the state to bear 87% of expansion costs.The political exchanges grew sharper through the day. Surya, wearing a T-shirt with the message ‘FareHikeBeda', met commuters and alleged that state officials had pushed for automatic annual increases despite public resistance. The Karnataka Congress responded on X, questioning how BJP MPs could claim to pause a hike if the Centre had no role in fixing fares.