After milk and curd, Karnataka to hike bus fares starting November 5

Days after raising milk and curd prices across Karnataka, the state government will hike bus fares across state-run transport corporations effective November 5. Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh confirmed on Sunday that the fare revision would proceed, with the exact increase to be finalised after a meeting on November 4.

Suresh said the state cabinet recently deliberated on the revision and tasked Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and the transport department with making the final decision. The state transport department will meet with officials from all four state corporations on November 4 to determine the revised rate structure, which is scheduled to roll out the following day.

The minister said that four diesel price increases by the Union government had imposed an additional annual burden of Rs 2,000 crore on the state's four transport corporations, pushing their cumulative losses to Rs 9,000 crore.

"We have no choice but to increase the fare hike, and it has become inevitable to revive the prices of the corporations," Suresh said. The Public Transport Fare Regulatory Committee (PTFRC), headed by retired IAS officer Atul Kumar Tiwari, has recommended a 25 per cent fare increase for three transport corporations and a 40 per cent hike for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

Fares were last revised on January 5 last year, when prices were raised by 15 per cent. Citing cost escalations over the past 18 months, the committee highlighted a 12.5 per cent salary increase implemented in July, incurring an additional expenditure of Rs 873 crore, alongside a diesel price rise of Rs 7.81 per litre, which added Rs 395 crore to operating costs.

Countering criticism from Chikkaballapur BJP MP K Sudhakar, Suresh said public transport fares in Karnataka remain lower than in several other states. He challenged Sudhakar to compare rates with BJP-ruled states, questioning whether loss-making public corporations should be shut down instead of being restored to financial viability.