Overview

• The High Court has issued notices to Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited, the Karnataka government and the Union government and given them two weeks to reply to the petition filed by MP Tejasvi Surya.
• Surya’s petition demands public disclosure of the Fare Fixation Committee report that underpinned the controversial fare increase after multiple RTI requests and direct appeals to BMRCL went unanswered.
• The Fare Fixation Committee, chaired by retired Justice R. Tharani, submitted its December 2024 findings after studying international metro fare models, leading BMRCL to impose a 100% hike that was later capped at 71%.
• Commuter ridership fell by around 100,000 passengers per day following the initial hike, highlighting affordability challenges for Bengaluru’s middle-class users.
• Surya has also urged the metro authority to meet the August 15 deadline for launching the driverless Yellow Line, which has been ready for over a year but remains nonoperational.