Bengaluru Metro Now Costliest in India, Ridership Falls 4%

With prices being increased 50% of the amount, people now have to pay just double of the prices. Now commuters have to pay Rs. 40 instead of Rs. 20 to cover the distance of 6.7 kms from MG Road to Baiyappanahalli and Rs. 50 instead of Rs. 25 to travel between Baiyappanahalli to Vidhana Soudha.

For an over 25 kms commute one needs to pay Rs. 90, which is the highest fare fee across the Indian metro system. It charges Rs 90 for excursions over 25 km despite having a comparatively tiny 76 km network, while Delhi Metro, with a vast 353 km network, costs Rs 60 for trips over 32 km.

The number of people travelling from the metro has decreased by 4 percent in just one announcement of new fares. Regular customers voiced their displeasure with the abrupt fare rise, while Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) blamed the decline on the ongoing Aero India 2025 exhibition.

BMRCL officials have reportedly stated that they will reconsider the rate increase while taking commuters' opinions into consideration. Numerous daily commuters have said that they had to look for other affordable forms of transportation due to this sudden hike in the prices of the metro fares.

On 10th February, a BJP team led by Basavanagudi MLA LA Ravi Subramanya, Jayanagar MLA CK Ramamurthy, and Dasarahalli MLA S Muniraju, met BMRCL Managing Director M Maheshwar Rao. They presented a memorandum opposing the raise and even protested in front of the major metro stations including Jayanagar, Vijayanagar, Dasarahalli, Madavara, Halasuru, and Kengeri Bus Terminal.

Siddaramaiah, the current CM of Karnataka criticised BJP for spreading misinformation and misleading the public by politicising this matter. He told press on 12th February, that the suggestion to increase the prices was taken by the Fare Revision Committee (FRC), a committee run by the Union government, rather than a step made by the Karnataka administration.

He quoted “The opposition party, BJP, is once again misleading the public by spreading false and distorted information to target the state government."

Resonating the Chief Minister's position, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy posted on social media that a central committee within the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs decided on the fare revision. He noted that the Congress-led state government was now being blamed for the fare increase by BJP politicians, who had previously claimed credit for the growth of Bengaluru's Metro.

The Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002 governs the operations of BMRCL, a joint venture between the Union and State government. Srinivas Katikithala, the current chairman of the BMRCL, serves as the secretary of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. A Fare Fixation Committee was established in 2024 at the request of BMRCL in 2020, with retired Madras High Court Justice R Tharani serving as its head. Before giving its report in December 2024, the committee—which had members from the union and state governments—examined the fare systems of the metros in Chennai and Delhi.

The research suggested changing fares to reflect the network's growth. Bengaluru Metro's operational network has expanded from 42.3 km to 76 km since the last tariff review in 2017. The network is anticipated to reach 175.55 kilometers by December 2026 after Phases 2, 2A, and 2B are finished.

The BJP has insisted that the fare increase be immediately rolled down in spite of these explanations. MLA Ravi Subramanya blasted the administration for raising prices on the general populace.

"The Metro is meant for the public. Prioritising profits is not the right approach. The project was implemented to ease Bengaluru’s traffic congestion, and even the union government has provided financial aid for this purpose. The fare increase is unfair," he said.

Lastly, despite all this commotion between political parties and criticism from the public, the official statement from the BMRCL indicated that the new ticket rates will stay for now.