BMRCL luggage tax discourages travellers from using public transport

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) currently levies a fee on oversized luggage.

With Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai recently announcing that the city’s metro line connecting to the airport will be completed by the end of the year, commuters are worried that they would have to shell out more than the fare amount to carry their luggage. Aditya Kulkarni, a resident of the city, took to the social media platform Twitter to call out the practice.

“This luggage ticket is nothing but a scam engineered by Namma Metro. Why do you have trains to Majestic and Yesvantpur if you want to penalise people for carrying luggage?” he wrote, while posting a picture of the fee receipt amounting to Rs 30. A majority of netizens agreed with his opinion and said that the rule discourages citizens from travelling by public transport.

“What do you mean by luggage oversize? How do you plan on starting the metro line to the airport with these rules in place? People will be carrying huge suitcases...so you'll levy fines on them as well? So much for easy and affordable last-mile connectivity,” another user Suraj Suresh said. In the past five years, the BMRCL has collected over Rs 1.17 crore in penalties for oversized luggage. The highest amount in heavy baggage penalties was collected in 2022, with the fine amount valuing over Rs 36.7 lakh.

The metro stations where the maximum amount of fine had been collected are all situated near railway and bus stations. Yesvantpur has bagged the first spot, with Chickpet, Kempegowda, Baiyappanahalli, Yelachenahalli following. BMRCL officials have justified the rule citing that it was put in place to ensure a safe and comfortable commute for all passengers.

“This is absolutely okay with metros in my opinion. Standing with luggage in crowded metros is a headache for other passengers too! As far as the authorities are concerned, they lose a passenger and they get money this way,” opined another user.

Many also agreed, complaining that those who travel from areas like Chickpet and KR Market tend to travel with big bags of commodities like flowers, disrupting other passengers.

Metro officials have said that once the line connecting to the airport becomes operational, appropriate measures will be taken up to address the needs of airport travellers. Considering the restrictions levied on luggage within airports, suitable arrangements will be made in order to benefit airport travellers, one said.