Brace for a hike in bus fares, says Laxman Savadi

BENGALURU: The government is likely to hike Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus fares, Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi said on Thursday.“BMTC’s proposal to hike bus fares is being looked into and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa will take a final decision,” he said. “The CM will decide if we need to increase bus fares or not. If he approves it, we will increase the fares slightly,” he said.

In 2020, the government had increased bus fares by 12 per cent in all transport corporations in the state except the BMTC. Now, it has asked for a 20 per cent increase in fares, which is high and the fare increase should not be a burden on commuters, he said.     

“All four state transport corporations in Karnataka incurred losses due to the pandemic and increase in fuel prices too is likely to have an impact on their operations. Losses incurred by the four corporations increased to Rs 2,720 crore after the Covid outbreak. Bus services were stopped during the lockdown. BMTC Volvo buses used by IT firms to ferry their employees too have stopped operations as most employees now work from home,” he added.

The Deputy CM said the government had recently allowed private taxi operators to increase fares by 15 per cent. Ola and Uber too have placed the same demand, but the drivers working with them have raised certain issues and a warning will be issued to them, he added. 

Sources said the government is unlikely to consider BMTC’s proposal as BBMP elections are likely to be held this year. Hike in BMTC fares will put the ruling BJP on the backfoot especially at a time when the opposition Congress is protesting against increase in fuel prices and demanding that the state government reduce state taxes to provide relief to the people.