Bengaluru metro fare hike put on hold on directions of Modi govt, says BJP MP

BJP MP from Bangalore Central P C Mohan took to X to make the announcement, adding that the Modi government had directed the BMRCL to submit a comprehensive report prior to taking any decision on fares.

Bengaluru: The Union government has put the Namma Metro fare hike on hold and believes that the proposed increase of 40-45 per cent is "too high", according to Bangalore Central MP, PC Mohan.

The three-member fare fixation committee of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) recommended increasing the fares by 40-45 per cent, as reported by DH earlier this month.

The committee, headed by Justice (Retired) R Tharani, had made the recommendations after considering Namma Metro's financial situation and operational requirements. Metro fares have been increased only once — in June 2017 — in the BMRCL's 14-year history.

The BMRCL, whose daily fare revenue stands at a little over Rs 2 crore, expects to earn another Rs 80-90 lakh following the fare hike, a senior official in the know said. It aims to meet its annual loan and interest payment requirements, which currently stand at Rs 800 crore.

However, the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Housing (MoHUA) is "unhappy" with the "steep" hike and has asked the BMRCL to submit a report justifying it, Mohan said.

"Namma Metro is a joint venture between the government of India and the government of Karnataka. So the ministry has sought a report from the BMRCL and asked it to put the fare hike on hold until then," Mohan told _DH_.

According to Mohan, the fare hike was to be enforced from February 1. He did not specify whether the ministry had suggested reducing the fare hike.

BL Yashavanth Chavan, the BMRCL's Chief Public Relations Officer, said that as per the established procedure, the BMRCL board had communicated the fare hike proposal to the government of India. "The ministry has asked for the reasons for the fare hike," he said and declined to give details.

A well-placed BMRCL source contradicted Mohan's claim, asserting that the fare hike proposal hadn't been put on hold.

According to the source, the MoHUA secretary, who is also the head of the BMRCL board, has yet to sign the minutes of the meeting that accepted the fare fixation committee's recommendations in toto on January 17.