Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejaswi Surya on Sunday alleged that the Karnataka government repeatedly asked the fare fixation committee (FFC) to increase the fares for Bengaluru’s Namma Metro. Surya added that he had spoken with the Centre regarding the issue, seeking its intervention into the matter.

Tejasvi Surya“Karnataka government officials demanded an upward revision of fares due to the state government’s financial position. They also requested that we initiate an automatic annual fare revision process…They requested that the Fare Fixation Committee not only revise the price upward but also implement an annual automatic fare-fixation formula,” he told reporters. However, chief minister Siddaramaiah earlier said the Karnataka government does not decide metro fares.

This comes after the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) decided to raise ticket prices by ₹1 to ₹5 across all 10 fare zones from Monday, under an annual automatic revision mechanism recommended by the FFC.

Meanwhile, the metro operator said it has put the implementation of the revised fare on hold. “The media release dated February 5 announcing the implementation of the annual fare revision with effect from February 9 has been kept on hold till further orders,” BMRCL said in a statement. It said the revised fare will be announced shortly.

According to the FFC recommendations, a minimum revision of fare to ₹11 and the maximum to ₹95 was suggested, representing a hike of about 5%.

The increase comes a year after a major fare revision in February 2025, when prices rose by an average of 51.55 % before discounts and 46.39 % after discounts, a move that drew criticism from commuters, urban mobility experts and opposition parties.

The latest controversy began when Surya said he had spoken with Union housing and urban affairs minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

On X, he wrote, “Had a detailed phone conversation with Union MoHUA Minister Sri @mlkhattar Ji now, seeking his immediate intervention against the State Government’s unjust Bengaluru Metro fare hike proposed to start from Monday. I pointed out that Bengaluru already has the costliest Metro fares in India. Another hike would put public transport out of reach for lakhs of citizens and defeat its purpose. He has instructed that the proposed hike be kept on hold temporarily. It will not take effect from Monday.” Earlier in the day, Surya interacted with metro commuters and sought their views on the proposed increase. As of Sunday, BMRCL maintained that, in the absence of formal communication to the contrary, the revised fares would take effect as scheduled.

Surya added, “He also assured a personal review of anomalies in the FFC and said a fresh committee can be considered if the State requests it.

Other BJP leaders, including state president B Y Vijayendra, leader of the opposition R Ashoka and former deputy chief minister Ashwathnarayan, said the hike would be put on hold.

CM Siddaramaiah had earlier said the Karnataka government has no role in deciding the metro fares. Referring to the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act, 2002, he said fares are fixed by an independent FFC constituted solely by the Government of India, and its recommendations are binding on the metro administration. “Blaming Karnataka is, therefore, factually incorrect and deliberately misleading,” he said, adding that the government has written to the Centre seeking to roll back the price hike.

(With inputs from agencies)

Arun Dev is an Assistant Editor with the Karnataka bureau of Hindustan Times. A journalist for over 10 years, he has written extensively on crime and politics.