Correct anomalies and rationalise fares: Tejasvi Surya to Namma Metro

Bengaluru: Bangalore South MP, LS Tejasvi Surya, on Tuesday urged Namma Metro to take immediate corrective action to rectify the "anomalies" and rationalise its fares. 

In a letter to BMRCL Managing Director J Ravishankar, he pointed out major issues which, if addressed, would correct the fares and ensure logical and affordable pricing for commuters. 

In February, the BMRCL increased its fares by 51.55% on average before discounts and by 46.39% after discounts. The maximum hike is 71.43%. 

Surya reiterated that the recommended formula to calculate the fare  hike clearly requires the use of 2017–18 as the base year, as that is when the last fare hike came into effect, as against 2016-17 adopted by the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) report. 

He also flagged "miscalculation" by the BMRCL in taking incorrect maintenance and administration expenses of 2017-18 and dividing them by the route kilometres of 2017-18 (42.3 km). 

"...BMRCL has erred in calculating the percentage increase of maintenance and administration in its proposal for a revised fare. It is, therefore, imperative that the BMRCL focuses on rectifying the fare anomalies and reducing fares, rather than shifting the onus elsewhere," he stated. "As a result of these errors, the BMRCL has presented the percentage change in maintenance and administration costs as 366%, whereas the actual change is approximately 110-118.5%." 

Out of the total 4,624 fare station-to-station combinations, 2,302, or 49.8%, have seen fare increase by over 50%. This constitutes a majority share of the journeys undertaken by commuters. Most common routes have witnessed a fare increase beyond the average of 51.55%, he noted. Indeed, BMRCL projects a 71.49 % increase (Rs 750 crore) in fare revenue in 2025-26 after the fare hike.