Karnataka HC refuses to interfere with Bengaluru metro fare hike; says issue belong to domain of experts and not courts

High Court dismisses PIL challenging Bangalore Metro fare hike, citing technical and financial considerations for decision.

Refusing to interfere with the decision to increase the fares of metro services by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, the High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday dismissed a PIL petition, which had claimed that the fare hike is a violation of ‘breach of promise’ as it exceeded the ‘promised’ limit.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Anjaria and Justice K.V. Aravind passed the order while rejecting the petition filed by Sanath Kumar Shetty and others of Bengaluru.

The petitioners had contended that fare structure is irrational, as it does not adhere to the station-to-station model, and violates Section 33 of Metro Rail (Operation and Maintenance), Act, 2002.

The petitioners had also claimed that ‘principle of promissory estoppel’ has been violated as the BMRCL initially proposed a fare revision of around 15-25% but later increased it by 71% depriving the public of an opportunity to raise objection.

“The fare fixation is an expert exercise where a host of considerations would have applied, including technical and financial considerations. It is not the domain of the court to delve into such aspects which are to be better considered by the fare fixation committee constituted under the statute,” the Bench observed.

Also, the Bench said that the arguments of “breach of promissory estoppel or doctrine of legitimate expectation hardly have any legs to stand... the circumstances of the case suggest that there is any breach of legitimate expectation merely because the petitioners made a representation that the fair should not be increased beyond a particular level and that is not done”.