Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah blamed the Heart for rising fares on the Bangalore Metro (the second in lower than a yr), saying fares have been determined by a committee beneath the Ministry of Housing and City Affairs.
He stated the subway is greater than only a transportation system, it’s a image of town’s aspirations, progress and a lifeline for a whole bunch of hundreds of commuters, together with staff, college students and households.
“I totally perceive the considerations and anguish expressed by commuters following the current revision in metro fares. A accountable authorities should hear first. I guarantee the folks of Karnataka that your voices matter to us. Nonetheless, it is necessary that the folks of Karnataka know the reality and never political deceit,” Siddaramaiah stated in a press release on Friday.
The Unbiased Fares Fixing Fee (FFC) “is constituted solely by the Authorities of India by means of the Ministry of Housing and City Affairs,” he added.
His remarks got here a day after the Bangalore Metro introduced a second fare hike, sparking anger amongst commuters and drawing harsh criticism from opposition events. The amendments will come into impact on February ninth.
Bangalore Metro Rail Company (BMRCL) stated in a press release on Thursday that the primary fare revision in seven-and-a-half years and optimization of fare zones from 29 to 10 has resulted in a mean fare improve of 51.55 per cent.
“With a view to avoiding such uncommon and drastic fare hike conditions sooner or later, the committee in its report advisable that fares be revised yearly by having a clear annual automated fare revision formulation linked to O&M prices or by setting an annual charge of 5% rounded to the closest rupee, whichever is decrease,” BMRCL stated.
The fare hike has intensified a confrontation between the Congress get together and the centrist authorities led by the Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP).
Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya has made a variety of representations towards the BMRCL, together with making a presentation to metro officers in November asking them to scale back fares.
On Friday, he wrote about X once more and took a swipe on the business in gentle of his newest remarks.
The general public is bored with listening to your excuses, Mr. CM. Whereas ready for this to be taken up ‘formally’, the folks of Bengal have been pressured to endure a steep climb for practically a yr. After a yr of constant efforts and robust public opposition, it looks as if they’ve lastly woken up… https://t.co/YhJPivREpM pic.twitter.com/3GwGEpTrQ9
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) February 6, 2026
“After a yr of constant efforts by us to attract your consideration to this subject, and within the face of persistent public opposition, it seems that you’ve lastly woken up.”
Surya additional wrote that Karnataka’s personal City Improvement Division and Finance Division had written a letter to BMRCL indicating that “fare revisions have been acknowledged as ‘important’ to ease the monetary burden on the state authorities.” FFC could also be statutory, however the “enter, intent and affordability stance” comes from the state, he added.
“The push for fare hikes began out of your facet to ease fiscal strain. So please do not fake the nation is a helpless bystander,” Surya wrote.
Bangalore’s metro fares are already the most costly in all of India, and Thursday’s hike made them much more costly. The worth will probably be elevated from 10 rupees to 11 rupees for 0 to lower than 2 km, and from 90 rupees to 95 rupees for the longest 10 to 30 km.
In November, earlier than Thursday’s worth hike, Surya had identified that for a journey of 20-25 km, the fare within the Bengaluru metro was Rs 80, in comparison with simply Rs 64 in Delhi (32 km). Equally, a 12-18 km journey in Bangalore prices Rs 60, whereas in Mumbai it prices half that.
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“Elevating rates of interest is proof that the fiscal system is in its infancy.”
In line with Metro, on a “common precept”, Metro fares are roughly 1.5 occasions dearer than AC bus companies.
Nonetheless, for these touring lengthy distances, the bus possibility continues to be far more viable.
In line with BMRCL, the metro fare is Rs 70 for a distance of 15-20 km, whereas AC buses price Rs 40 and non-AC buses Rs 28. For 20-25 km, metro fare is Rs 80 as towards Rs 45 (AC buses) and Rs 30 (non-AC buses).
The allegation towards BMRCL is that it used the unsuitable base yr whereas calculating the fare hike. ThePrint reported in november
To resolve on the hike, BMRCL has taken 2016-17 as the bottom yr when 30.03km was operational in comparison with 42.3km in 2017-18. Mobility consultants stated the scheme contradicted nationally established requirements and practices. The Bangalore Metro accounts for a good portion of town’s mass public transport infrastructure finances. Nonetheless, in a metropolis of 14 million folks, the utmost variety of passengers per day is only one million. The metro has 96 kilometers of operational traces in a metropolis that’s 800 sq. kilometers large.
Ever for the reason that fare hike was introduced, there was widespread anger over the pressure on the pockets of extraordinary residents who commute to the subway day by day.
“That is so unsuitable. Metro is a public utility utilized by many individuals. Fares must be low to make sure that folks use public transport as a substitute of 2W. Such fare hikes will solely trigger extra site visitors congestion…” Mohandas Pai, former Infosys CFO and co-founder of Aarin Capital, posted on X.
He added that the hike was a “unsuitable resolution” because the Congress authorities had offered free bus transportation to all girls in Karnataka by means of an assurance.
Opposition events and different sections of society have accused the Siddaramaiah authorities of freely giving freebies price greater than Rs 50,000 crore yearly and forcing the regime to tax others to mitigate losses.
“Thus far, they haven’t made any intervention to handle the financial plight of metro customers, as clearly the CM and DCM usually are not involved. I’ve beforehand written to the CM and DCM, met BMRCL officers a number of occasions, identified anomalies within the report, and even raised the problem in Parliament. But, the CM and DCM have chosen silence over accountability…” Bharatiya Janata Get together MP Surya stated in a publish on Thursday.
Opposition chief R. Ashoka stated the fare hike was proof that Karnataka’s funds have been nonetheless of their infancy.
“The 51.55 per cent improve in Namma Metro fares has nothing to do with the Union authorities. It’s a direct results of @INCKarnataka authorities’s weak funds, poor fiscal self-discipline and financial mismanagement…” Ashok stated on Friday.
The BJP chief added that in case of governance failure and monetary mismanagement, the folks must pay the worth.
Siddaramaiah countered that the fare hikes are half of a bigger sample that features hurting Karnataka with “lowered tax devolution, denial of truthful subsidies and delayed infrastructure help” and that the newest fare hikes will weaken public transport and make on a regular basis life dearer for folks.
(Edited by Tony Lai)
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