Bengaluru Metro card users slam ₹90 minimum balance rule, call it ‘unfair and exploitative’

Bengaluru metro users are expressing frustration over BMRCL's ₹90 minimum balance for smart cards, deeming it exploitative after a recent fare hike.

Bengaluru Metro commuters have taken to social media to express growing frustration over the ₹90 minimum balance requirement on smart cards, calling it “exploitative” and “unreasonable,” especially after the recent fare hike by the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

Many urged BMRCL to remove the rule altogether, saying “The card should not have a minimum balance at all.” (X/@bykarthikreddy)

Several users pointed out that even if they have enough money to cover their journey, the card refuses to process travel if the balance is below ₹90.

“Even if my Bengaluru Metro smart card has ₹89 balance, I can’t pay ₹10 for my travel at the exit gate. Minimum balance mandatory for BMRCL smart cards is ₹90. Any solution other than topping up?” one commuter wrote on X.

Another user called the rule a “serious scam,” saying, “After the fare hike, they made it ₹90, which is almost like two-way commute money. This has to be done away with. So much interest earned by the corporation but unusable money for us.”

Some commuters accused the metro body of “hoarding commuter money” through the rule. “BMRCL is like a mafia. Everything they do is dodgy. Cannot imagine a metro anywhere that swindles ₹90 from poor and middle-class people,” another comment read.

One user narrated how the policy forced them into unnecessary top-ups, “I wanted to travel from Nagasandra to Sandal Soap Factory. My card had ₹85, enough for a ₹40 fare, I thought. But it didn’t accept at the gate. I had to top up ₹100 forcefully. Total ₹180 gone!”

Many urged BMRCL to remove the rule altogether, saying “The card should not have a minimum balance at all.”

The complaints come amid a larger public outcry over the recent Metro fare hike, which has already drawn political attention.

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya recently alleged a ₹150 crore overcharge due to a “major calculation error” by BMRCL in computing maintenance and administrative (M&A) costs.

During a review meeting this week, Surya claimed that BMRCL used data from 2016–17 instead of 2017–18 while preparing the proposal for the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC), leading to inflated fare slabs.

“This incorrect computation has resulted in an unjustified increase in fares,” Surya said, urging an immediate correction and refund mechanism.