The Karnataka Excessive Court docket on Monday issued notices to Bengaluru Metro Rail Company Restricted (BMRCL), the state authorities, and the Centre on a petition filed by Bangalore South BJP MP Tejasvi Surya searching for speedy publication of a fare fixation committee (FFC) report that advisable metro fare revisions earlier this 12 months.
Justice S Sunil Dutt Yadav directed the respondents to file their replies inside two weeks. In the course of the listening to, the courtroom orally remarked, “You might be so highly effective; you can’t get the BMRCL to try this a lot additionally?” Responding to the statement, Surya’s counsel submitted that whereas the MP had raised the problem a number of instances, BMRCL had not responded.
“The utmost we are able to do is write to them. Even the general public is behind this. We met the BMRCL managing director straight, however they aren’t responding. They are saying they’re awaiting the state authorities’s approval. The Act doesn’t give them any such discretion,” the counsel submitted.
In his petition, Surya contended that as an elected consultant of Bangalore South—a constituency served extensively by Namma Metro—and as a every day commuter, he had made three formal requests to BMRCL, on April 28, Might 8, and Might 15, searching for the publication of the FFC report.
Nevertheless, BMRCL had didn’t act on these calls for. The plea factors out that the FFC, headed by former choose R Tharani, submitted its report on December 16, 2024, after finding out fare fashions of Metro techniques throughout India and overseas, together with visits to Singapore and Hong Kong.
On February 8, 2025, BMRCL publicly introduced that it had acquired the report recommending fare revisions. Primarily based on the committee’s suggestions, BMRCL carried out a steep fare hike from February 9, 2025—growing fares by as much as 100 per cent, with the utmost fare rising from Rs 60 to Rs 90, making Namma Metro the costliest metro community in India at the moment. Following robust public backlash and interventions by Surya, BMRCL revised fares once more on February 14, capping the utmost enhance at round 71 per cent.
The petition argues that as a state entity, BMRCL should adhere to rules of equity, transparency, and pure justice, and be certain that its selections don’t trigger undue hardship to the general public. It additional states that metro rail firms in different cities, together with Mumbai and Hyderabad, have revealed such reviews for public scrutiny, selling transparency in governance.
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“Regardless of a number of reminders and follow-ups, BMRCL’s refusal to launch the report is unfair and lacks rational justification,” the plea states.
The matter shall be subsequent heard in two weeks.
Taking to X, Surya stated, “Bangaloreans have been reeling beneath steep fare hike enforced by BMRCL, as advisable by Fare Fixation Committee Report. Public deserves to know the contents of this report.” He added, ”Ideally, it shouldn’t require Excessive Court docket interventions. However such is the unreasonable behaviour of BMRCL in not making the report public, it warranted a stern push. BMRCL should realise it’s a quite simple demand and launch the report at the least now.”
Bangalore Central MP P C Mohan, additionally from the BJP, wrote on the social media platform, “Transparency shouldn’t require orders from the Excessive Court docket of Karnataka. Bengaluru commuters should know the way fares are set. BMRCL should launch the Fare Fixation Committee Report now. Public belief is constructed by means of openness, not secrecy, silence or stonewalling.”