Bengaluru, 17 Jan

Bengaluru Metro has become the costliest in the country, thanks to the Karnataka government’s “negligence” in correcting mistakes caused by anomalies in fare fixation, Bengaluru South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya said on Saturday.

Alleging that the State government and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) are now looking to hike fares by another 5 per centin February to offset losses in operations and maintenance, Surya said on Saturday that these losses are largely the result of frequent delays in Metro construction, which significantly increase project costs.

Bengaluru Metro travel now costs nearly twice as much as in Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai, leading to a reduction in the number of metro users, he said.

Surya urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to form a new Fare Fixation Committee (FCC) to determine a revised fare structure.

In February 2025, the BMRCL introduced revised prices as per FCC recommendation, resulting in ticket costs going up by up to 71 per cent on a few routes, with maximum rates reaching to Rs 90.

Surya noted that the proposed hike was coming before commuters could recover from the massive hike.

“Governments must be encouraging public transport, especially in cities like Bengaluru,” Surya told press.

On Friday, Surya had written to Union Urban Affairs MinisterManohar Lal Khattar, Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar, and BMRCL Managing Director J Ravishankar to reconstitute the FFC, citing serious anomalies in the recent fare revision.

However, the Karnataka Congress hit back on X, saying that the FCC is appointed by the Union government and not the State. It also claimed that the FCC recommendations were legally binding and added that the BMRCL was a 50:50 joint Centre State venture.

However, Surya noted that Metro prices have not increased in cities Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata or Kochi, meaning it wasn’t a political conspiracy like the Congress claimed.

-Agencies