Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya moves Karnataka HC over non-disclosure of metro fare report, slams secrecy

Tejasvi Surya has filed a writ petition against the Karnataka government and BMRCL for not releasing the Metro Fare Fixation Committee report.

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has approached the Karnataka High Court challenging the state government and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) for allegedly withholding the report of the Metro Fare Fixation Committee (FFC), which recommended a steep fare hike.

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya. (PTI Photo)

Surya confirmed on Sunday that his writ petition, WP No. 19524/2025 (GM-RES), will be heard in the court on Monday. He termed the government’s conduct “arbitrary and opaque,” questioning the rationale behind keeping the report secret.

Here is the post

“It is outrageous that the BMRCL and the Karnataka government continue to keep the FFC report under wraps, a report that recommended a 130% increase in fares,” Surya said in a post on social media platform X . He alleged that despite multiple requests, including RTI applications filed over the last three months, the report has not been made public.

 

He further criticised the Fare Fixation Committee for making sweeping recommendations and undertaking foreign study tours on taxpayer money, yet failing to maintain transparency. “Every other metro system in the country, including Delhi, has made their FFC reports public. Why is Bengaluru the exception? What is the government trying to hide?” he asked.

Surya also pointed out that the fare hike has led to a noticeable drop in Metro ridership, making Namma Metro one of the costliest public transport systems in the country. “This has made the Metro unaffordable for many middle-class commuters,” he said.

Taking aim at the Congress-led state government, the BJP MP asked why Chief Minister Siddaramaiah continues to block the report’s release, despite there being no issue of national security or legal restraint. “Public transport must be affordable, reliable, and above all accountable to the public, who fund and use it,” Surya said.

He concluded by calling the legal challenge a fight for transparency, fairness, and the rights of Bengaluru’s commuters. “I will not rest until Namma Bengaluru becomes a model in public transport for all of India,” he said.