Karnataka cabinet decides to hike bus fare by 15 per cent

Bengaluru: The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday decided to increase the bus fares in the state-owned transport corporations by 15 per cent.

The decision was taken in view of the substantial hike in operational costs such as increase in spending on fuel prices and staff, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said.

The opposition BJP lashed out at the Congress government in the state over its decision to hike bus fares.

Addressing reporters here, Patil said the decision will come into effect from January 5. The move is expected to generate ₹74.85 crore monthly and about ₹784 crore annually.

“The cabinet has decided to revise the bus fare of the four state transport corporations — KSRTC, NWKRTC, KKRTC and BMTC by 15 per cent,” he said. According to Patil, the BMTC bus fares were increased on January 10, 2015 when the diesel prices were ₹60.90 per litre.

“The daily diesel consumption was ₹9.16 crore 10 years ago by the four corporations, which has now increased to ₹13.21 crore. The expenditure on staff in these four corporations was ₹12.95 crore daily, which has increased to ₹18.36 crore daily. Hence the revision was necessary,” he said justifying the hike.

The Minister also underlined that ‘Shakti’ guarantee will continue. Shakti offers free ride for Karnataka women in state-owned non-luxury buses across the state. In the current fiscal, ₹5,015 crore has been earmarked for the ‘Shakti’ scheme, the Minister explained.

Patil said, “Every month the state government is releasing ₹417.92 crore grant to these four corporations. This will not be a burden on the state finance.” He added, “With the hike in bus fares across all the categories of bus services, neither the transport corporations will go bankrupt, nor government exchequer will go empty. Mind you, we are the best state in terms of managing finances.”

Patil also said the state government has cleared all the provident fund dues to the tune of ₹2,000 crore. Regarding the decision he said, “We discussed about hike between 13 per cent and 15 per cent and the cabinet arrived at a decision of 15 per cent looking at the prices prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra.

After the rise of 15 per cent, we will be lesser than any of these states.” In a post on X, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra said, “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, with what face do you boast that you have given the five guarantee schemes to the people of the state? By failing to provide money for the Shakti Yojana, you have caused the transport company to tread the path of loss.”

He said by increasing the bus fare by 15 per cent, the government line is that the bus travel is free for women, but it will definitely be a burden for men. “The decision of the Congress government in Karnataka to increase the transport fare by 15 per cent is unscientific and anti-people and the BJP will raise its voice against this and support the people.