Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejaswi Surya on Sunday alleged that the Karnataka government has repeatedly asked the Fare Fixing Committee (FFC) to increase the fare of Bengaluru’s Namma Metro. Surya added that he has spoken to the Center on the matter, seeking its intervention in the matter.
bright sun”Karnataka government officials demanded upward revision of fares due to the financial condition of the state government. They requested that we initiate an automatic annual fare revision process…They requested that the fare determination committee implement an annual automatic fare-fixation formula and not just price escalation,” he told reporters. However, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had earlier said that the Karnataka government does not fix metro fares.
This comes after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) decided to hike ticket prices. ₹From 1 ₹5 across all 10 fare zones from Monday under an annual automatic correction mechanism recommended by the FFC.
Meanwhile, the metro operator said it has put the implementation of the revised fare on hold. BMRCL said in a statement, “The media release dated February 5 announcing the annual fare revision effective from February 9 has been put on hold until further notice. The revised fare will be announced soon.
As per FFC recommendations, fares are a minimal revision ₹11 and up ₹95 was proposed, representing an increase of about 5%.
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The increase comes a year after a major fare revision in February 2025, when prices rose by an average of 51.55% before the discount and 46.39% after the discount, a move that drew criticism from commuters, urban mobility experts and opposition parties.
The latest controversy started when Surya said he had spoken to Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
On X, he wrote, “Have now had a detailed phone call with Union MoHUA Minister Shri @mlkhattar ji, seeking his immediate intervention against the state government’s proposed unjustified Bengaluru metro fare hike starting from Monday. I pointed out that Bangalore already has the most expensive metro fare in India. Another hike defeats the purpose of reaching millions of its citizens on public transport. The proposed hike will not be effective from Monday.” Earlier in the day, Surya contacted Metro commuters and sought their views on the proposed hike. Till Sunday, BMRCL maintained that, in the absence of a formal communication to the contrary, the revised fares will be effective as prescribed.
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Surya added, “He assured the FFC of a personal review of the discrepancies and said a new committee could be considered if the state requests.
Other BJP leaders, including state president BY Vijayendra, leader of opposition R Ashok and former deputy chief minister Aswathanarayan, said the hike would be postponed.
CM Siddaramaiah had earlier said that the Karnataka government has no role in fixing metro fares. Referring to the Metro Railway (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, he said that fares are determined only by an independent FFC constituted by the Government of India and its recommendations are binding on the metro administration. “Therefore blaming Karnataka is indeed wrong and deliberately misleading,” he said, adding that the government had written to the Center to roll back the price hike.
(with input from agencies)
