Bengaluru metro fares set to rise by 5% from February 9

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Bengaluru metro commuters are acceptable to look an summation successful question costs, with fares scheduled to emergence by 5% from February 9. The revision volition propulsion the minimum summons terms to ₹11 and the maximum fare to ₹95, adjacent arsenic commuters stay unhappy astir past year’s hike.

The determination follows the implementation of the yearly fare accommodation recommended by the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC). The committee of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. (BMRCL) has approved the revision, which volition travel into effect without requiring clearance from either the Union oregon the State government, according to officials.

Officials said that the FFC’s recommendations, submitted past year, are mandatory and indispensable beryllium enforced annually until a caller committee is constituted.

“The fare revision is portion of an automatic look prescribed by the Fare Fixation Committee. These recommendations are binding connected the relation and bash not necessitate further approvals. The BMRCL is obligated to instrumentality them arsenic notified,” a elder BMRCL authoritative told The Hindu, adding that the rounding-off of fares would beryllium done to the nearest rupee wherever the summation exceeds 50 paise.

Most costly

Currently, Bengaluru metro charges a minimum fare of ₹10 for journeys up to 2 kilometres and a maximum of ₹90 for trips beyond 25 km. With the 5 per cent increment, these rates are expected to emergence to ₹11 and ₹95 respectively, reinforcing Bengaluru’s presumption arsenic the astir costly metro strategy successful the country.

The announcement has erstwhile again drawn attraction to past year’s fare hike. On February 9, 2025, BMRCL had sharply accrued summons prices, with immoderate slabs witnessing hikes exceeding 100%. The determination triggered wide protests from commuters. Following the backlash, the metro relation attributed the anomaly to method issues and aboriginal capped the summation astatine 71% from February 14.

Commuter criticism

Many passengers reason that different hike, hardly a twelvemonth later, is unreasonable, peculiarly astatine a clip erstwhile nationalist transport is being promoted arsenic a sustainable alternate to backstage vehicles. Commuters constituent retired that rising metro fares could undermine efforts to trim congestion successful the city, which was precocious ranked arsenic the second-most congested successful the satellite successful a TomTom report.

Prakash Mandoth, president of the Bangalore Metro and Suburban Rail Passenger’s Association, criticised the timing of the revision. “The crisp fare hike implemented a twelvemonth agone already placed a dense load connected commuters. Since then, the Yellow Line has go operational, starring to a important emergence successful ridership and revenue. This year’s summation could person been deferred,” helium said.

Mr. Mandoth warned that predominant fare hikes would discourage radical from utilizing nationalist transport. “Repeated increases volition propulsion commuters towards idiosyncratic two-wheelers and cars, which galore find much affordable and convenient. This determination volition disproportionately interaction students, salaried employees, and lower- and middle-income groups. Proceeding with the hike reflects a deficiency of sensitivity towards mundane commuters,” helium added.