BMRCL unlikely to roll back Namma Metro fare hike, claims 105% figure ‘misunderstood’

Bengaluru metro (File photo)

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is unlikely to roll back the Namma Metro fare hike introduced on February 9, despite growing criticism and concerns about irregularities in the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) report published in September last year.

Several citizens, along with Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya, have questioned the logic behind the increase, calling it excessive and inconsistent with the FFC’s own recommendations.

They argued that the 105% fare rise announced by BMRCL was “illogical” and not in line with the committee’s findings.

Urban transport expert Satya Arikutharam also pointed out technical flaws, including the use of the Delhi Metro fare formula instead of one suited for Bengaluru, incorrect selection of the base year, inflated route length while calculating operational costs, and poor interpretation of the FFC’s suggestions.

In response to the criticism, BMRCL clarified that the 105.2% figure mentioned in the FFC report was misunderstood.

It was not the actual fare increase but represented the change in a composite cost index that measures how much operational costs had risen since 2017. According to the corporation, the figure excluded major cost factors such as staff salaries, energy bills, interest, and depreciation, The Times of India reported.

"While the index movement showed a 105.2% rise in operational costs, the FFC's actual fare recommendations across 10 slabs ranged from 0% to 81.8%, averaging 51.6%, before factoring in peak-hour and off-peak smart-card discounts," BMRCL stated.

The corporation said it subsequently moderated the fare structure, limiting the highest increase in any station-to-station fare to 71.4%, after testing over 600 fare permutations to ensure balance and equity across distance bands.

According to BMRCL’s data, out of 4,624 fare combinations, more than 70% saw an increase between 30% and 60%, while around 7.6% of fares went up to 71.4%. Notably, nearly 3% of fares were actually reduced.

The corporation added that the much-discussed 366% figure in the report referred to the cumulative rise in maintenance and administrative expenses over 7.5 years, not a yearly increase.

To reduce the impact on commuters, BMRCL introduced various benefits such as smart-card concessions, off-peak hour discounts, and lower fares on holidays.

Though the fare hike initially led to a small drop in ridership, passenger numbers began recovering after the launch of the Yellow Line, the corporation said.