Tejasvi Surya slams BMRCL for inflating metro fares, says officials need ‘math lessons’

Bengaluru : Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya has launched a scathing attack on the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), accusing it of misleading the fare revision committee and arbitrarily hiking ticket prices. He said that due to incorrect data presented by BMRCL, Namma Metro has earned the tag of India’s costliest metro.

Addressing reporters on Sunday, Surya said that the fare hike of 105% implemented on February 9 was based on false information. Following public outrage, the BMRCL had rolled back the increase to 71.5% on February 13. “Even now, fares remain unreasonably high. Metro officials must relearn basic arithmetic,” he remarked sarcastically.

According to Surya, in 2017, when fares were last revised, the electricity rate per unit was Rs 6, but it has now dropped to Rs 5.25, yet BMRCL raised fares much higher than justified. “Instead of the approved 51.55% hike, officials increased fares by 71.5%. They misled the committee and looted commuters by collecting over Rs 100 crore in excess,” he alleged.

The MP had planned to meet BMRCL Managing Director Dr. Shivashankar to confront him with the data and “give him a math lesson,” but the MD reportedly cited health reasons and skipped the meeting.

Surya has written to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and the BMRCL management, urging them to correct the errors and reduce fares immediately. He warned that if no action is taken, he would consider moving the High Court against the metro authorities for providing false information to the fare committee.

Commuters have also joined the demand, urging the government to offer a “November gift” to Bengalureans by rolling back metro fares.

Surya reiterated that BMRCL’s mismanagement and inflated fares have made commuting unaffordable for ordinary citizens. “The officials presented wrong calculations before the committee and burdened passengers with double fares,” he said, adding that the government must now act decisively to restore public trust.

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