BJP claims Union govt. has put metro fare hike on hold; BMRCL says no such direction

BJP claims metro fare hike is on hold; BMRCL states no official communication received, creating confusion over upcoming changes.

Amidst a political slugfest over who is responsible for the Namma Metro fare hike, at least two BJP leaders from the city on Saturday claimed that the Union government had intervened and put the proposed fare hike on hold at their behest. Tejasvi Surya, MP for Bengaluru South, and Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R. Ashok claimed the revised fares will not come into effect from February 9, as was scheduled.

However, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) told The Hindu that they had received no such communication. “We can decide only when official communication comes to us. So far, we have not received any communication,” a senior BMRCL official said.

This has created confusion whether the new fares will come into effect from Monday or not. 

Mr. Surya and Mr. Ashok on Saturday claimed to have spoken to Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar flagging the issue and that he had directed officials to put the implementation of the revised fares on hold.

Mr. Surya claimed that Mr. Khattar assured a review of anomalies in the Fare Fixation Committee’s (FFC) recommendations and indicated that a fresh FFC could be considered if the State government submits a formal request. Soon after Mr. Surya’s claim, Mr. Ashok claimed in a post shared on X that he too had a chat with Mr. Khattar and the Minister had made similar assurances.

Both the leaders put the ball in the State government’s court. “It is now up to the State government to act in the interest of the people. The Congress government led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah must immediately abandon its rigid and insensitive approach and initiate the process of forming a new Fare Fixation Committee (FFC),” Mr. Ashok said.