Bengaluru: A bus ticket in Karnataka costs more from Thursday. Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh announced fare revisions across all four state-run transport corporations on Wednesday, with KSRTC fares going up by 23% on average and BMTC fares by 33-35%. The new rates take effect from Wednesday midnight.
"We have not increased the fares to make a profit but to reduce losses and save corporations like KSRTC and BMTC," Suresh told reporters in Bengaluru.
The revision is stage-wise rather than a flat percentage across the board, the minister said. On KSRTC services the increase works out to between Rs 4 and Rs 16 depending on how far a passenger travels. On BMTC city routes the minimum fare rises by up to Rs 10, and the Vayu Vajra airport service will now cost Rs 425.
That last number is the one white-collar Bengaluru will notice first. The airport coach is the default ride for anyone with an early flight and no cab budget, and it has been among the cheapest ways to reach Kempegowda International Airport.
The four corporations — KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC — have been running at a loss for years, with staff costs and diesel bills outpacing collections. Successive governments put off a revision, and the last increase came well before this one.
For daily commuters the arithmetic is simple and unwelcome. A BMTC pass holder on a mid-length route is looking at a jump of a third on a single ticket. Students, factory shift workers and the thousands who ride the bus because a two-wheeler loan is out of reach carry the increase every day.
The government has not released the full revised fare table, the expected additional revenue, or an estimate of how many passengers the corporations carry daily. Nor has it said whether monthly and student passes will be repriced on the same scale, or held where they are.
Opposition parties are yet to respond to the announcement.