Bengaluru metro fare revision sparks political slugfest

A political slugfest has erupted following the decision by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) to revise Namma Metro fares, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress trading charges over responsibility for the increase. With civic polls set to be held in the city this year, the two national parties have been trying to blame each other for the fare hike.

‘Political deception’

Even as the BJP attacked the State government over the fare hike, in a detailed statement on Friday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah sought to counter what he termed “political deception” by laying out the legal framework governing fare fixation. Under the Metro Railways (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002, he said, metro fares are not determined by the State government but by an independent Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) constituted solely by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The committee, headed by a former High Court judge and operating under Central legislation, is required to submit its recommendations within a stipulated period, and these recommendations are binding on the metro administration.

Neither the State government nor BMRCL, he stressed, has the authority to override them. “To blame the Karnataka government for a decision legally imposed by the Union framework is factually incorrect and deliberately misleading,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said, while adding that the State would go beyond the narrow confines of the law to protect commuters’ interests.

He announced that he would formally take up the issue with the Union government, urging it to reconsider the recommended fare levels, explore mechanisms to moderate or rationalise fares for daily users and vulnerable groups, and examine policy options that balance financial sustainability with social equity.

Reconstitute FFC

P.C. Mohan, MP for Bengaluru Central, said “the latest fare hike comes after a steep 71% increase last year” and alleged that “faulty calculations” by the FFC had inflated operating costs, resulting in sharp fare increases for most commuters.

Tejasvi Surya, MP for Bengaluru South, alleged that the State government had allowed a “steep and flawed” fare hike to go through, placing an additional burden on commuters. “If the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister are really concerned about the rising fares of Bengaluru metro, I urge them to seek the reconstitution of the FFC. The Congress-led State government has perfected the art of blame-shifting, while conveniently ignoring that it has the authority and responsibility to reduce the burden on the city’s commuters,” he claimed.

Mr. Surya had earlier sought a reconstitution of the FFC.

Mr. Siddaramaiah questioned “why BJP MPs from the State had not raised the issue forcefully in Parliament or opposed high fare slabs at the Union level”.