Bengaluru Metro Fare Revision Put On Hold Amid JDS-BJP Tussle

The annual fare revision of Bengaluru metro, which was to come into effect from February 9, has been put on hold, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited said today, amid the ongoing political tussle on the matter. 

"The media release dated February 5 announcing the implementation of the annual fare revision with effect from February 9 has been kept on hold till further orders," the BMRCL said. 

The matter will be taken up by its board before any final decision is made. "The decision on the revised fare will be communicated after the board's review," read the press statement from the BMRCL.

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya, who spoke to commuters earlier today, told reporters that they were upset over frequent fare revisions. 

He also accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar of "misleading the public" by blaming the Centre for the fare hike. 

Echoing him, Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy said, "After increasing metro fares, the state government is passing the buck to the Centre, which is untrue". 

The state's ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP and JDS have been at loggerheads since The 5 per cent fare hike was announced last week, that would translate to hike between Rs 1 and Rs 5. While the opposition accuses the state government of hiking fare, the Congress government claims it is move by the Centre.

In a post on X, the Congress pointed out that Tejasvi Surya's stance that Centre has no role in the metro fare hike is "shameless hypocrisy". 

"Now they're pleading with Delhi to temporarily hold it. If they don't have the power to set the price, how do they suddenly have the power to pause it?" the party said in a post.