Fare hikes for public transport have often been a political hot potato, and the recent hike in fares for Bengaluru’s Namma Metro has been no different. The new rates have invited the ire of commuters, triggered a fall in ridership, and led to a war of words between a BJP MP from the city and the Congress Chief Minister. Commuters and politicians alike have demanded a rollback. India at the moment has around 1,000 km of operational metro rail networks in 23 cities, with a comparable length under construction. For governments trying to pay off debt incurred while constructing capital intensive metro rail infrastructure, fare revisions have always been tricky — while meeting fiscal demands, governments have to ensure that the high prices do not turn commuters away. How are metro fares set? All metro rail networks in the country are governed by the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, which also details the process to be adopted for fare fixation. Section 34 of the Act says “The Central Government may, from time to time, constitute a Fare Fixation Committee for the purpose of recommending fare for the carriage of passengers by the metro railway.” The Fare Fixation Committee is chaired by a retired High Court judge to be appointed after consultation with the Chief Justice of the court they served in. Two other members — one each nominated by the Centre and State government — are also appointed, since metro corporations are a partnership between the Centre and respective State governments. In the case of the Central government nominee, the member has to be a current or former Additional Secretary to Government of India or an equivalent post in the Central or State government. The committee has to make its recommendations within three months. “The recommendations made by the Fare Fixation Committee shall be binding on the metro railway administration,” Section 37 of the Act says. Under the Fare Fixation Committee (Procedure) Rules, 2003, which flow from the Act, the decision of the committee shall be by majority of the members sitting. The metro railway administration concerned is required to give inputs, including data on fixed costs, variable costs, ridership, the interest to be paid on the domestic and international loans, and guaranteed dividends payable to shareholders, if any. The metro rail administration is also required to provide suggestive fares for different travel lengths, the rules say. What happened in the case of Bengaluru? For its first hike since 2017, a Fare Fixation Committee for Namma Metro was set up by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on September 7, 2024. The committee was chaired by former Madras High Court judge Justice R Tharani. It had MoHUA Additional Secretary Satinder Pal Singh as the Centre’s nominee, and retired Additional Chief Secretary Dr E V Ramana Reddy as the Karnataka government’s nominee. The committee had three months to come up with its recommendations. Apart from taking the inputs from Namma Metro, the committee sought feedback/suggestions from the public. The committee submitted its report on December 16, which was then approved by the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd. The BMRCL said in a statement that the new fares, which came into effect on February 8, were a “fine balance between affordability and financial sustainability”. On average, the committee’s recommendations led to a 51.55% increase in fares, with the maximum fares going up from Rs 60 to Rs 90. For some journeys, the hike was as much as 100%. Following protests by commuters, the BMRCL capped the fare hike to 70% less than a week after the new fares were put in place. Commuters nonetheless say that the new fares are too high. Ridership of the Namma Metro has fallen by 4% since the fares were introduced. What was the political fallout of the fare hike? Days after the fare hike became effective, BJP leaders voiced their opposition to the decision, holding Chief Minister Siddaramaiah responsible for the hike. Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya accused the Congress government for “forcing” the hike by proposing and requesting that a Fare Fixation Committee be set up to accommodate a 105% hike proposed by BMRCL. “When public outrage erupts, the state government shifts blame to the Centre, claiming it’s out of their hands. After the backlash intensifies, they pretend to intervene, asking BMRCL to make minor reductions while still imposing a steep hike. This is a classic diversion strategy, making it seem like they’re helping commuters when, in reality, they orchestrated the hike from the start,” he said in a post on X on February 16. The CM had said on X on February 12 “The fare revision was decided by a Union Government-appointed committee, and BMRCL is legally bound to implement it. The Karnataka Government had no role in this decision. BJP must stop misleading the people and take responsibility for its actions.” In another post on February 11, he said the BMRCL was a joint venture of the Union and Karnataka government. and the Board had officials from both governments, while the chairman was the Union MoHUA secretary. He said BMRCL was an autonomous body and that the Karnataka government did not have full control over its decisions.
