The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has come down heavily on the Congress-led Telangana government for its decision to hike bus fares in Hyderabad and Secunderabad from Monday. BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) took to X to criticize the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC), calling the sudden increase of ₹10 in city bus fares “reprehensible” and “anti-people.” He said the move would directly hurt poor and middle-class commuters who rely on public transport daily. KTR accused Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of “emptying the pockets of the common man” at a time when rising prices of essential goods are already squeezing household budgets.

In his statement, KTR argued that the fare hike will add nearly ₹500 of extra monthly expenditure for regular passengers and place an additional daily burden of around ₹1 crore on the people of Hyderabad. He also alleged that the government’s policies reflect “a grudge against the residents of the capital,” questioning why the administration chose to raise fares instead of strengthening the RTC, which has already suffered due to financial stress. “Instead of improving efficiency and supporting RTC employees, this government is punishing commuters who depend on buses for their livelihood,” he said, adding that increasing student and T-24 ticket prices had already hit lower-income families hard.

According to the new fare structure announced by the TGSRTC, passengers on City Ordinary, Metro Express, E-Ordinary, and E-Express buses will pay ₹5 more for the first three stages and ₹10 beyond that. Metro Deluxe and E-Metro AC passengers will see a ₹5 hike for the first stage and ₹10 from the second stage onwards. Officials say the decision aims to fund the transition to electric buses, with plans to induct 2,800 EV buses by 2027 within the Outer Ring Road limits. However, the BRS maintains that the fare hike is unjustifiable and comes at a time when the public is struggling to cope with inflation, calling it “a tax on the poor disguised as progress.”