Commuters in Karnataka face higher travel costs as the state government announces a revision in bus fares across KSRTC and BMTC networks due to rising diesel prices, raising minimum ticket prices in Bengaluru to ₹10 and adjusting rates for premium and airport services.

Commuters in Karnataka face higher travel costs as the state government announces a revision in bus fares across KSRTC and BMTC networks due to rising diesel prices, raising minimum ticket prices in Bengaluru to ₹10 and adjusting rates for premium and airport services.

Commuters in Karnataka face higher travel costs as the state government announces a revision in bus fares across KSRTC and BMTC networks due to rising diesel prices, raising minimum ticket prices in Bengaluru to ₹10 and adjusting rates for premium and airport services.

Commuters in Karnataka will now have to pay more for buses run by the four state-run transport corporations.

The revision was announced by State Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh. The fares have been raised to ₹9 on the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and ₹10 on Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses.

Suresh said the maximum increase on KSRTC services had been limited to ₹9. The revised fares will come into effect from Wednesday midnight.

The minimum fare on BMTC buses in Bengaluru will increase from ₹6 to ₹10, while the maximum fares have been raised from ₹35 to ₹45.

On the AC Vajra buses, fares will rise from ₹75 to ₹90.

The Vayu Vajra services to Kempegowda International Airport will cost upto ₹425, a ₹20 hike from the previous ₹405.

Fares for premium services, including Rajahamsa and air-conditioned buses, have been set with prevailing market prices for comparable services in mind.

Suresh told reporters that the rise comes after both the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments also increased bus fares.

He cited a rise in diesel prices as the reason for the revision and said that the fare revision was necessary to address the rising prices, employee salaries and dearness allowance, and higher spare parts costs and financial burden on the transport corporations. He said that around 80 per cent of the total expenditure went towards diesel and staff costs. 

The hike comes as the state government continues to operate its Shakti scheme, which provides women free-of-charge rides on non-luxury government buses in Karnataka. The minister, however, clarified that the fare hike was not linked to the scheme and said that the govt reimburses the transport corporation for every ticket issued to women. 

The Karnataka government paid ₹16,589 crore towards reimbursements under the scheme, while around Rs 5,000 crore remained pending.

The hike also comes amid a hike in the price of milk and milk products.

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