Pressure mounts on BMRCL to reduce Metro fare, online campaign demands revoking of hike order

BENGALURU: The recent Namma Metro fare hike in Bengaluru has led to a significant decrease in the number of passengers. On the first day of the hike, the passenger count dropped to 6.75 lakh from the usual 8 lakh to 9 lakh.

I travel every week thrice from KR Pura to Majestic/KSRR through #metro, and now the fare is up by 100%.This is purely the result of poor governance and the catalyst effect of unnecessary promises/freebies made by state govt. Common man will not tolerate this.#RevokeMetroFareHike pic.twitter.com/qRu5kyIz2w

— Govardhana KL (@GovardhanaKl) February 9, 2025

The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), officials expect the numbers to remain low for another week. The fare hike has sparked widespread protests, with many commuters expressing their dissatisfaction on social media. Some have even threatened to boycott the Metro and switch to private vehicles.

Even though BMRCL claims that the fare hike is only 45%, for certain station pairs, it ranges from 70% to 110%. For example, the fare from Whitefield to Singayyanapalya was Rs.28.5/- and is now Rs.60/-.

High time BMRCL must #RevokeMetroFareHike pic.twitter.com/5la3r7YDe1

— Sreejith S Pai (@jith746) February 9, 2025

The Metro fare hike has sparked protests online. A campaign called ‘Revoke Metro Fare Hike’ has begun, opposing the 70-80 per cent fare increase. The travelling public is strongly objecting to this hike.

As a mode of protest, I took my car out today. We will fight till BMRCL corrects the stage wise fares to actual distance based logical fares.#RevokeMetroFareHike https://t.co/TYywO9ClT2 pic.twitter.com/GZvM3BkypN

— Sreejith S Pai (@jith746) February 10, 2025

Many people are expressing their outrage by posting selfies with their cars, saying they will bid farewell to Metro travel and switch to private vehicles instead. Most of the middle-class people rely on the Metro to reach their destinations. The fake hike is a burden on them, they say.

Even though BMRCL claims that the fare hike is only 45%, for certain station pairs, it ranges from 70% to 110%. For example, the fare from Whitefield to Singayyanapalya was Rs.28.5/- and is now Rs.60/-.

High time BMRCL must #RevokeMetroFareHike pic.twitter.com/5la3r7YDe1

— Sreejith S Pai (@jith746) February 9, 2025

Namma Metro became the most expensive public transport system in the country after the fare hike. Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya also raised the issue of the hike in Metro fares during Zero Hour in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, arguing that it is affecting the middle class in Bengaluru. He also apprised the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs of the BMRCL fare fixation matter.

BJP workers also staged protests at major Metro stations, including Jayanagar, Vijayanagar, Madavara, Halasuru and Kengeri stations.