Bengaluru Metro revises fare hike, caps increase at 71% after CM Siddaramaiah's intervention and public outcry: Report

Despite the revision, the minimum and maximum fares will remain unchanged at ₹10 and ₹90.

Following widespread criticism, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on Thursday announced a revised fare structure, reducing the maximum hike from 100 per cent to 71 per cent.

The revised pricing will be implemented by Friday. (PTI Photo)

Despite the revision, the minimum and maximum fares will remain unchanged at ₹10 and ₹90, respectively. The revised pricing will be implemented by Friday, BMRCL managing director M Maheshwar Rao confirmed, The Hindu reported.

The move came hours after Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed metro authorities to reconsider what he described as an "abnormal" hike. He urged the BMRCL to address anomalies in the recent metro fare revision, highlighting that fares have more than doubled on certain routes.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Siddaramaiah stated that he has directed the BMRCL Managing Director to urgently rectify these discrepancies and reduce fares where the increase is excessive. He emphasized that commuter interests must be safeguarded.

According to the report, Rao stated that the revisions were made in accordance with the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) guidelines, which are legally binding on BMRCL under Section 37 of the Metro Railways (Operations and Maintenance) Act.

As per the press release by BMRCL, around 46 per cent of daily metro users—roughly 2.91 lakh passengers—are expected to benefit from the revised fare structure.

The FFC had initially suggested a hike of up to 105 per cent, resulting in an average annual increase of 6.87 per cent over seven-and-a-half years. However, BMRCL had originally sought a 14 per cent annual increase before discounts, the press release stated. This marks the first metro fare revision in over seven years.

Drop in metro ridership

However, according to Deccan Herald, Rao admitted that metro ridership had dropped by 8-10 per cent in the first three weekdays following the fare hike. On February 11, the number of commuters stood at 8,28,149, compared to the four-Monday average of 8.8 lakh recorded earlier this year. Ridership further declined to 7.78 lakh on February 12, down from 8.7 lakh, and on February 13, it fell to 7,62,811, significantly lower than the 8,67,660 recorded on February 5.