“Since it was the first day, our mobile courts did not take harsh action; rather, they asked the bus operators to return the extra fare to the passengers.”

A BRTA official

The government’s move to hike the bus fares appears to have spawned a free-for-all: many operators were charging as much as 50 percent higher fares, while the CNG-run buses were also collecting fares at the new rate that does not apply to them.

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Take the case of Ali Akbar, a small trader in Chattogram, who was travelling on a minibus to New Market from Bahaddarhat.

The distance is six kilometres, so under the new tariff, the maximum charge would have been Tk 12.35. But Akbar had to pay Tk 20.

“When I protested, the staffer misbehaved with me and threatened to remove me from the bus,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

Similarly, Shipra Paul, a schoolteacher, said she had to pay double the fare to go to Kotwali from Chawkbazar by a CNG-run minibus.

The price of CNG has not increased and the government has not increased the fare for CNG-run vehicles.

“Does anyone obey the rules? We the common people are the ultimate sufferers,” Paul said.

The correspondent visited Muradpur, Bahaddarhat, Agrabad, Sholashahar, Oxygen, Karnaphuli Shah Amanat Bridge and Chawkbazar areas in the port city and found that CNG-run minibuses and buses were collecting almost double the previous fare from the passengers.

The situation is the same in Dhaka; the fare that the passengers had to pay yesterday was largely more than the 28 percent hike fixed by the government for buses in Dhaka and Chattogram.

Ahsan Habib, a private service holder, came to Farmgate yesterday from Gulistan by a bus named “Airport Bangabandhu Avenue Paribahan Ltd” that charged his Tk 15 for the trip, up 50 percent from the previous rate.

When some other passengers pressed the conductor of the bus why he was charging more than the government-fixed rate, he said: “Every bus is doing the same.”

Yesterday, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority’s mobile courts conducted a drive against a total of 220 vehicles and held at least 67 buses in Dhaka and Chattogram charging an extra fare.

Of the 220 vehicles, 29 CNG-run buses and 38 diesel-run buses were found taking extra fare from passengers, a BRTA official told The Daily Star last night.

“Since it was the first day, our mobile courts did not take harsh action; rather, they asked the bus operators to return the extra fare to the passengers,” said the official requesting anonymity as he is not authorised to speak with the media.

Some of them imposed a fine, he said, adding that harsher action would be taken from today against overcharging. The BRTA realised Tk 1.54 lakh in fine.

Contacted, BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said strong steps would be taken so that none can charge extra.

“Our mobile courts have already fined several buses for collecting extra fare,” he told this newspaper yesterday.

Khondaker Enayet Ullah, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, acknowledged that some “irregularities” have taken in Dhaka on the first day.

“We hope things will settle down once the fare chart will be provided to the bus operators within a day or two,” he told The Daily Star last night.

Asked about the CNG-run buses charging the new rate, he said only 200 buses among 5,000-odd buses in the capital are running on CNG and the association has already asked the vehicle operators to not collect the increased fare.

“However, we will give a letter to all our members with strong words tomorrow [Tuesday] so that they do not charge extra,” he added.

Contacted, Manjurul Alam Manju, president of the Chattogram Road Transport Owners’ Association, said: “We have also received some complaints of overcharging from passengers. We will sit in a meeting today to fix the issue.”

Ali Hossain, the deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (traffic), north zone, said police officials were deployed on different areas to look into the irregularities over transport fare.

Legal action is being taken against the irregularities, he said.

Meanwhile, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday warned that the government would take stern action if the transport owners and workers realise extra fares from passengers, reports BSS.

“If addition fares are realised from passengers breaking the pledge (of transport owners), the government will take stern action against them,” he told a press conference at his official residence.



Bus Fare Hike In Dhaka, Ctg: On paper 28pc oN Roads 50PC
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