A Bengaluru techie’s viral Reddit post highlights how city traffic costs him 2.5 months of work annually. Netizens call it a “hidden tax” on professionals, sparking debates on urban planning, congestion, and commuting woes in India’s Silicon Valley.
Bengaluru, known as India’s Silicon Valley, has long been plagued by traffic congestion, but a recent Reddit post by a local tech employee has brought the city’s commuting crisis into sharp focus. The post has gone viral, sparking widespread discussion among professionals and citizens alike, with many labelling the city’s traffic as a “hidden tax” that costs workers valuable time and productivity each year. The post details the struggles of a tech employee navigating the city daily, highlighting how the cumulative time lost in traffic can equate to months of work annually.
Techie Shares His Daily Struggle
The Reddit post comes from a techie who lives in JP Nagar and works on Outer Ring Road. Earning ₹28 lakh a year (excluding RSU), he pays ₹6.5 lakh in income tax and another ₹1.4 lakh in GST on everyday expenses — amounting to more than three months of work annually, just for the country. While his office is only 14 kilometers away, what should ideally take 30 minutes ends up taking a staggering 90 minutes due to traffic congestion. Factoring in the daily commute, he estimates losing about 2.5 months of his year just sitting in traffic.
Mismanaged Urban Planning Adds To The Problem
The techie points out that while taxes like income tax and GST are meant to fund better roads, smoother commutes, and smarter cities, poor planning and misallocation of resources have left commuters paying a “hidden tax” without seeing tangible benefits. Instead of improved infrastructure, citizens are forced to endure long commutes and mounting frustration.
Users React To Bengaluru’s Traffic Woes
The viral post has drawn numerous reactions from Reddit users, resonating with residents and professionals dealing with similar challenges.
Some of the notable reactions include:
“Yup. I always tell this to my team. If you put an engineer working in Bangalore in any foreign country with cleaner air and no traffic, they will become 20% more efficient with no other changes. Everyone is always coughing, sneezing, wheezing and taking leave for their children falling ill but still say air pollution is not that big deal.”
“You can’t build highways in a congested city like this, don’t expect Singapore like infrastructure when people are just flooding in for jobs and it can’t be scaled. Politicians are bad I agree, but its not the only way to fix Bangalore. Why don’t the central government offer tax free for foreign companies to invest in tier two cities, atleast the population will be distributed evenly. Now everyone is coming to Bangalore like bees and expecting Dubai like infrastructure.”
“Tbh most off the bottlenecks are caused by illegal parking on the service road. Just check Marathahalli Kadubeesanahalli service road once, even it’s difficult to walk on that road at evening. Tbh we need to fix ourselves first, then crying about these is social media when govt is useless.”
The post and reactions highlight not only the city’s chronic traffic issues but also the broader challenges of urban planning, population density, and civic responsibility in one of India’s most important tech hubs.