Tejasvi Surya petitions Karnataka High Court, demands public release of metro fare report

Bengaluru: Bangalore South MP, LS Tejasvi Surya, has petitioned the Karnataka High Court, demanding that Namma Metro make its Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) report public. 

The matter will be heard by Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav on Monday. 

"It is outrageous that the BMRCL and the Karnataka government continue to keep the FFC report secret — a report that recommended a steep 130% hike in metro fares," Surya wrote on X on Sunday. 

He added: "The committee undertook foreign visits on public money, made sweeping recommendations, and yet, its findings are being kept away from the very people it affects. Since this fare hike, ridership has dropped significantly. Bengaluru Metro is now the most expensive in India, unaffordable for many middle-class commuters." 

Surya noted that all metro systems in the country had made their FFC reports public. "Despite repeated requests over three months, and even after RTI applications, the report remains under wraps. There is no national security concern here. Then why the secrecy?" he wrote, and termed this a fight for "transparency and fairness". 

Contrary to Surya's claim, the committee did not recommend a 130% hike. 

Documents reviewed by DH showed that the BMRCL had sought a 105.15% hike, citing its loan payment payment obligations of Rs 10,422.2 crore from 2024-25 to 2029-30. The BMRCL estimated its depreciation costs at Rs 7,316.21 crore. 

The three-member committee recommended a 51.5% hike before discounts and a 46.39% hike after discounts. 

On the chief minister's instructions, the BMRCL recalibrated the fare matrices, capping the maximum fare hike at 71.42%. There was no change in fare slabs because the committee's recommendations are binding as per the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002. 

Metro ridership is also picking up.

From 8.03 lakh in January, average daily ridership fell to 7.49 lakh in February and 7.24 lakh in March before recovering to 7.62 lakh in April. While it fell marginally to 7.56 lakh in May, it's expected to cross 8 lakh in June. 

Speaking at an event on July 3, BMRCL Managing Director M Maheshwar Rao said weekday ridership stood at 8.5 lakh.