"Passengers To Spend Tk984 Cr On Extra Fares During Eid Journey"

A total of 16 million people from Dhaka and neighbouring districts will travel to different districts of the country during the Eid ul Fitr holidays, according to 'Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samiti' (BJKS).

During this time, holidaymakers have to spend nearly Tk984 cr extra transport costs, the passenger welfare platform said in a statement on Sunday.

The members of the sub-committee on observation of 'extra fare' in public transport of the organization observed the situation on road, rail, sea and air routes from 03 April to 06 April and came up with the statement.

According to the observation, some unscrupulous bus owner-drivers have resorted to the anarchy of collecting extra fare without paying attention to the rules.

About 6 million people will travel by launch during Eid. An average of 50 taka to 800 taka per passenger is being charged extra fare depending on the category. If the additional fare is collected at the rate of Tk 200 per passenger on average, Tk 120 crore additional fare will be collected from these passengers before Eid, it said.

The CNG-run auto-rickshaws plying in the capital are also charging extra fares ahead of Eid. Every passenger has to pay an extra fare of Tk 200 per trip on average while using these autos for daily activities.

About 7 million trip passengers in 25,000 CNG-run autorickshaws plying in the capital before Eid will have to pay an additional fare of more than Tk140 crore.

Around 30 lakh passengers on the long-distance route from Dhaka have to pay extra fare at an average rate of Tk 300 per passenger. Accordingly, bus passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 90 crore.

Besides, extra fares are charged on air routes before Eid. In some cases, three times the additional fare is being charged. According to Jatri Kalyan Samity, passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 35 crore if they pay an average of Tk 3500 extra per passenger on domestic routes before Eid.

According to the statement, 140 million passengers will travel through different Ghats including Sadarghat, and Narayanganj River port this Eid. At the rate of Tk 10 per head, an additional Tk 140 crore will be looted by the people of Ghat leaseholders with the connivance of the corrupt officials of BIWTA.

This is the scenario of Dhaka and its surrounding areas. If the whole country is calculated, this amount may increase three to four times.

“Due to such rent anarchy, low-income people are suffering and prices of the commodity, extortion, social unrest, irregularities-corruption and road accidents are increasing.”

In such a situation, introducing a smart fare collection system in public transport is crucial to overcome it, Jatri Kalyan Samiti said, adding that it is important to ensure good governance of the law.-UNB