BJP MP Tejasvi Surya was detained for protesting against a metro fare hike in Bengaluru, demanding affordable public transport. The protest followed a statement by the Deputy Chief Minister and highlighted the issue of public transport costs.
"There is no increase in the monthly season tickets of suburban trains and up to 215 km travel in ordinary class of other trains," officials said adding that the increase in fare will fetch 600 crores to the Railways till March 31, 2026.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta termed the exorbitant rise of airfares by airlines as "exploitation" and asked the Centre and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to file their replies to a PIL seeking binding regulatory guidelines to control the unpredictable fluctuations in airfare and ancillary charges imposed by private airlines in India.
Experts say Indian Railways must grow its share in the freight market to remain financially sustainable.
The directorate general of civil aviation has shot off a letter to all airlines seeking details of the sudden and steep fare hikes announced on Wednesday. The move came close on the heels of civil aviation minister Praful Patel's remark that the ministry was against cartelisation, widely believed to be behind the latest fare hikes.
Unfazed by the attack on him by his own party for raising rail fares, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday justified the move saying it was a "conscious decision" in the best interest of the Railways.
The Maharashtra government on Tuesday sought the Bombay high court's approval for the proposed auto and taxi fare hike.
Terming the train fare hike as "shocking", Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday said he will speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and request him to roll it back.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's announcement of fare hike with effect from January 21 midnight has been received with a sense of 'fait accompli' by suburban commuters' organisations in Mumbai.
.jpg)
The Railway Budget is likely to be presented in the second week of July.
New Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Monday gave ample hint of a possible passenger fare hike to improve services in the railways.
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday hinted at a hike in passenger fare as he asked Parliamentarians to be "realistic" if they want the railways to move forward.
India Inc on Friday said the hike in railway passenger and freight fares will help in resource mobilisation, hoping that the higher fares will lead to better quality and safety of services offered by the Indian Railways, while asking the government to allow FDI in Railways.
He was asked if there will be any roll back in the hike in passenger fares.
.jpg)
Congress is protesting the recent hike in railway passenger fares and freight rates announced by the Centre.
After political rivals, the Narendra Modi government has come under fire from Shiv Sena over the rail fare hike with its oldest ally terming the move as akin to the common man being run over by train.
Bombay HC stays proposed Metro fare hike till Jan 29.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the hike in rail fares as "unprecedented and anti-people" and demanded its roll back in the interest of common people.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday demanded roll-back of the "unprecedented, anti-people" rail fare hike considering the problems faced by common people.
Asserting that the government can't remain a mute spectator to the move by the air carriers, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said there can be 'no justification' for airlines to hike fares in an 'arbitrary manner'.
In the pre-budget measure, the government has announced an across-the-board increase in rail passenger fares with effect from January 21 to net an additional Rs 6,600 crore (Rs 66 billion) a year, the first such increase in a decade.
Carriers' input costs are rising due to weak rupee and rising crude oil price.
Indicating that the exit of Dinesh Trivedi as railway minister was only a matter of time, the Trinamool Congress on Thursday said its priority was to ensure a "complete rollback" of the fare hike announced in the rail budget. "Our priority is complete rollback of the hike. How the government does it, only they have to decide. They can do it after the discussion on the rail budget or before that. It is only the government which will have to decide," said Sudip Bandopadhyay.
Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist workers on Saturday took to the streets in the national capital protesting the "massive" rail fare hike and demanding its immediate rollback, saying that the government's decision will lead to rise in prices of essential commodities.
Opposition parties on Friday criticised the government's decision to hike railway fares terming it as "criminal" to burden the people with such an increase and questioned as to why Parliament was not taken into confidence before taking the step.
Attacking the previous government, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said the hike in rail fares was "thrusted upon" by the United Progressive Alliance, but it was a "bitter medicine" that had to be swallowed in the interest of sound health of the economy.
Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025.
Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has justified the Narendra Modi government's move to raise the rail fare by 14.2 per cent, saying it was a result of the policies undertaken by the previous United Progressive Alliance government. In an exclusive interview to CNN IBN, Prasad blamed the UPA II government for leaving Indian Railways in shambles, adding that his government never knew that the railways was bleeding, thanks to the Congress-led regime.
Domestic air passenger traffic touched 1.25 crore in January this year, an increase of 96 per cent compared to the year-ago period, according to rating agency Icra. However, it said the traffic remained around 2 per cent lower compared to the pre-Covid levels -- January 2020. The traffic stood at 64 lakh in January last year. Icra is maintaining a negative outlook on the Indian aviation industry, reflecting the view that the financial performance of Indian airlines is likely to remain under pressure in the near term, even though the recovery in domestic passenger traffic has been healthy.
The new fare structure which will come into effect from December 1.
On Wednesday, Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal announced an across-the-board hike in fares of all classes from midnight of January 21 to net an additional Rs 6,600 crore (Rs 66 billion) a year.
Budget carriers say no to full cost airlines' proposal to up rates.
The airline is currently operating on the Delhi-Dubai, Mumbai-Dubai, Delhi-Singapore and Mumbai-Muscat routes.
The organisation will have to stop operating on a cost-plus basis, and start competing in the marketplace.
Taking a suo motu action, the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission directed its investigation wing to probe the 'sudden' increase in air fares by airlines in unison, sources in the commission said. The Directorate General of Investigation and Registration, investigation wing, has been directed to submit its inquiry report within 60 days.
Effective from midnight of January 21, the hike will help railways earn an additional Rs 6,600 crore a year. Railway Minister P K Bansal said it was imperative.
The Rail Budget to be presented tomorrow may continue with the practice of not raising the fares and freight rates but the possibility of imposition of a safety cess may not be ruled out, at least on the higher class fares.
"We understand that it is a bit harsh to hike the fares, but in the future it will only benefit the people and this is something that we cannot play politics with," Railway Minister, D Sadananda Gowda said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances