Even as the bandh call was withdrawn on December 30 after the government assured it would fulfill the demands, state Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said ticket prices were likely to be revised soon.

How has the Congress government justified its decision?

Reddy claimed that the fare hike and the permission to raise Rs 2,000 crore through loans from financial institutions was necessitated due to the precarious condition that the corporations were left in by the previous BJP government.

As of March 31, 2019, Reddy said, the four Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation had collectively accrued liabilities to the tune of Rs 2,653 crore. According to the minister, the liabilities surged to Rs 4,099 crore under the BJP government and by December 2024, the four corporations had liabilities worth Rs 6,250 crore.

Reddy said following the implementation of the Shakti scheme, the revenue of the corporations increased to Rs 10,147.45 crore as against the Rs 8,399 crore they garnered in the 2022-23 fiscal when the BJP was in power.

The government has also sought to justify its decision citing the rise in operational costs, especially due to the hike in diesel prices.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the government’s decision claiming all previous dispensations revised bus fares. “Since the last revision in 2020, the prices of diesel as well as procuring buses have also risen. The hike in fares will also result in the increase of salaries for employees,” he said.

How did the opposition respond?

After the government hiked fares, the BJP hit the streets with party leaders greeting commuters at the Majestic Bus Stand in Bengaluru with roses and “apologising” to them on the government’s behalf.

During the protest, Karnataka Leader of Opposition R Ashoka was involved in an ugly spat with a police official, triggering accusations from the Congress that he had abused the policeman.

Earlier, Ashoka accused the state government of “extorting the common man” in one way or the other since it assumed power in 2023. “Siddaramaiah is sucking the blood of Kannadigas by hiking one price or the other every day,” he said.

Union Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy also lashed out at the government over the move. “The state government is trying to find excuses to stop its guarantees and are looking to discontinue them,” he said.

Likening the government’s policies to “taking money from one pocket to put it into another”, Kumaraswamy said, “Is this government robbing people to give them their own benefits? The bus fare hike will burden the common man. No minister’s children or MLA’s children travel in government buses. Only common people use them. Even an additional Rs 10 per day is a burden for them,” he said.

How often have ticket prices been hiked earlier?

The latest 15% hike is the single largest since 2006. Between 2006 and 2025, ticket fares have been revised 13 times, the last before Sunday’s revision coming in February 2020.

Before Sunday, the previous biggest jump in fares came in August 2008, when the government hiked prices by 12.01% followed by 12% each in February 2020 and September 2012.

The Congress has used the hike to point out that ticket fares were increased seven times during the BJP government’s tenure between 2008 and 2013 when Ashoka was the transport minister.

Between 2013 and 2018, when the Congress was at the helm of the state, ticket prices were revised thrice: a 10.5% spike in July 2016, a 7.96% hike in May 2014 and a 2% decrease in January 2015.