BMTC fares will go up by 33% to 35% and those of KSRTC , NWKRTC and KKRTC by 23% from Thursday midnight. Bengaluru: Adding to the season of hikes, Karnataka govt Wednesday delivered its hardest blow yet, announcing a steep fare revision across its four state-run transport corporations.
The shock value is the unprecedented scale of increase as fare revisions between 2009 and 2025 ranged between 3.5% and 15%. Citizens unleashed fury against the govt online, asking transport minister Byrathi Suresh the rationale behind the sharp hike: “How could men in Bengaluru bear a 35% hike when annual salary revision is barely 3%? With this, the base ticket price on BMTC is on par with that of Metro on certain routes, and rides on premier BMTC buses will hurt passengers more. Airport commuters, too, will have to spend more on Vayu Vajra services. Why is the Cong govt giving such atrocious Deepavali gifts to people? Why should men pay more to allow women to travel free?”
For instance, a journey from Bengaluru to Kalaburagi on an express bus service will now cost Rs 928 against Rs 754 earlier, an increase of Rs 174. Similarly, the Bengaluru-Belagavi fare has jumped from Rs 603 to Rs 742. Of 1.25 crore passengers who use the four state-run transport corporations every day, 74.4 lakh are women travelling free under the Shakti scheme. This leaves more than 50 lakh passengers, largely men, paying for their rides.
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