the minimum fare on Vajra is Rs 20 While Metro fares start at Rs 10. After the bus fare revision, a ride on Metro wouldn’t be as expensive as a journey on select BMTC routes.
For instance, a Metro ride from Majestic to Vidhana Soudha costs Rs 10, while a Vajra journey from Majestic to Maharani’s College costs Rs 20. On longer routes, fares have increased by up to Rs 15. A ride between Central Silk Board and Hebbal now costs Rs 65 against Rs 55, while the Majestic-Attibele fare has gone up from Rs 60 to Rs 70. A journey from Banashankari to Kempegowda International Airport will now cost Rs 325 against Rs 295 earlier. The Attibele-KIA fare has increased from Rs 405 to Rs 425, while the Electronics City-KIA journey will cost Rs 400 against Rs 380. In ordinary services, the minimum fare for journeys of up to 2 km has increased from Rs 6 to Rs 10, a 67% jump. From Majestic to Shivajinagar, a 4-km stretch, the fare jumped from Rs 12 to Rs 18. For a 6-km journey, the fare has increased from Rs 18 to Rs 25. For 8 km of travel, the fare increased from Rs 23 to Rs 30. For longer distances, the fare has been increased by up to Rs 12. +++++++++++++++ Rides outside Bengaluru too to cost more The 23% hike in KSRTC , NWKRTC and KKRTC fares will make both short intercity trips and long-distance journeys more expensive. For the first five stages, fares on ordinary services have increased by up to Rs 9, while express services will cost up to Rs 18 more for journeys covering 10 stages. An ordinary bus journey from Bengaluru to Nelamangala or Hoskote will now cost Rs 44 against Rs 35 earlier. For express services, the Bengaluru-Kolar fare has increased from Rs 81 to Rs 100, while passengers travelling to Mandya will have to pay Rs 136 instead of Rs 110.
Airport commuters will also have to spend more on Vayu Vajra services. In Bengaluru, even a short bus ride will cost considerably more. Those travelling to other parts of the state will face an even bigger increase in absolute terms. +++++++++++++++
After repeatedly asking about the pending reimbursements, the minister admitted the state govt owed the four corporations Rs 6,362 crore. In defence of the hike, Suresh argued KSRTC, KKRTC and NWKRTC had revised fares only twice in the past 10 years and BMTC just once. In more than three years, RTCs have spent a whopping Rs 23,002 crore on the Shakti scheme and issued 870 crore free tickets. Barring the Rs 6,362 crore pending amount, the rest was reimbursed by govt. In all, four RTCs had together suffered losses of Rs 10,200 crore and outstanding liabilities of Rs 9,912 crore, including pending PF and gratuity payments, employee expenses and loans worth Rs 2,192 crore. Fuel costs have added to the burden, with diesel prices rising by Rs 10.47 per litre this year alone. The corporations procure fuel at Rs 98.13 per litre and have pending fuel bills of Rs 1,111 crore. They spend Rs 15.60 crore daily, or Rs 5,694 crore annually, on fuel, he said. Additionally, wage revision has imposed a financial burden of Rs 6,418 crore on the corporations from 2016 to 2026.
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The government has been reimbursing the scheme expenditure regularly, and the corporations are benefiting from it,” he said. “These (Shakti-impact allegations) are far from reality. Asked whether clearing the pending Shakti reimbursements would reduce the corporations’ liabilities, he offered no clear explanation. Download the TOI App.
Minister defends hike, denies Shatki bleeding RTCs, admits 6k cr pending Despite acidic reactions from commuters slamming the govt, transport minister Byrathi Suresh cited severe financial stress behind the hike revision, but dismissed allegations that the Shakti scheme was straining the finances.