Bengaluru metro fare revision deferred as BJP, JD(S) criticise state govt
Bengaluru (PTI): BMRCL on Sunday said it has put on hold the implementation of the annual fare revision, which was scheduled to come into effect from February 9.
In a statement, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited said the earlier announcement regarding the fare revision would not be implemented until further orders, indicating that a final decision is still pending.
Clarifying its position, BMRCL said, "The media release dated February 5 announcing the implementation of the annual fare revision with effect from February 9 has been kept on hold till further orders."
The corporation added that the matter would be taken up by its board before any final decision is made.
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"The decision on the revised fare will be communicated after the board’s review," the release added.
Earlier in the day, BJP MP Tejasvi Surya spoke to commuters to gauge their views.
Later, he told reporters that they were upset over frequent fare revisions and accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar of "misleading the public by blaming the Centre for the fare hike.
Surya also demanded the constitution of a Fare Fixation Committee (FFC).
On Saturday, he said that Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar had instructed officials to temporarily put the proposed metro fare hike on hold.
Surya added that the minister also assured a personal review of anomalies in the Fare Fixation Committee (FFC) and said a fresh committee could be considered if the state government requested it.
Meanwhile, Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries H D Kumaraswamy blamed the state government for the metro fare hike.
He alleged that despite the Centre asking the state government not to implement the hike, it was insisting on going ahead with it.
"After increasing metro fares, the state government is passing the buck to the Centre, which is untrue," the JD(S) second-in-command told reporters in Mysuru.
Kumaraswamy further charged that the state government was unwilling to maintain a good working relationship with the Centre for implementing central schemes and policies.
Reiterating its service commitment, BMRCL said it continues to prioritise commuters’ interests.
"BMRCL remains committed to providing safe, reliable, and affordable metro services to the citizens of Bengaluru," it said.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
