Bengaluru, 9 Jan

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said in Bengaluru on Monday that it was the State government, not the Centre, which put the Namma Metro fare hike on hold.

On Thursday, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had said that Metro fares would be revised on a zone-by-zone basis starting 9 February as part of its annual automatic fare adjustment system. Prices were set to rise by Rs 1 to Rs 5 across 10 zones.

Then, on Saturday, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya announced that the fare hike was put on hold on the instructions of Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. The official confirmation only came on Sunday.

However, Shivakumar said in Bengaluru: “The decision to put the fare hike on hold was made by the Karnataka Government; the Central government has no role in this.”

Addressing a press conference in the City, Shivakumar said that BMRCL fare increase is based on aformula - OMR cost, existing cost based on CPI, energy cost. “Based on this, I have directed them to come up with a revised fare…. The cost is very high. I have asked them to recalculate.”

In an apparent jab at the Union government, he said that in “Delhi, for example, security and other things are taken care of by the Central government.”

He said that the Fee Fixation Committee (FFC) had worked out the formula based on the above and expenditure.

Shivakumar’s comments come after the Congress claimed that it had no authority over the FFC, which it said was chaired by someone appointed by the Centre. The Committee has maintained that it is duty-bound to hike the fares annually.

However, the BJP has said that the State government asked for the FFC to be constituted.

“All Bangalore Metro tenders are called and monitored by the State government,” Leader of Opposition R Ashoka noted.