On May 1, the government imposed measures to prevent the auto rickshaw drivers from refusing to take passengers to any destination or from turning fare meters off and demanding exorbitant prices.

However, the drivers have ignored the new measures saying the government has failed to prevent the auto rickshaw owners from extracting from them more than the approved daily fees. The drivers claim that without overcharging, they would not be able to make ends meet.

Passengers complain, if they are lucky enough to convince any driver to take them on a metered trip, most drivers would then demand an extra Tk 10 to 20. Many of the drivers who do not argue with the passengers over the fare or the destination, are deceiving the passengers with tampered meters, they added.

The Auto Rickshaw Owners' Association rebuffed the drivers' claim that the owners were extracting illegally high daily fees.

The long-running dispute centres around the exact level of the daily fees paid by the drivers. The auto rickshaw owners used to collect Tk 600 in daily fees instead of the government-fixed rate of Tk 300.

Under the new rules, the drivers have to pay Tk 450 a day. However, many claim owners are still collecting Tk 600 and the drivers say they have little choice but to continue overcharging passengers to pay the fees.

In an attempt to resolve the problem, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has been conducting mobile courts at garages of auto rickshaws, said Humayun Rashid, a director at BRTA

"We have received many complaints against the owners for not following the daily rate. We have even heard that some of the owners are collecting Tk 600 from the drivers, while giving a receipt for Tk 450," he said.

Kamruzzaman, an auto rickshaw driver from Mirpur, said, the huge number of unemployed drivers made it possible for owners to extract the unauthorised daily rates.

"If I refuse to pay Tk 600 a day to the owner, he will not give me the vehicle because he has so many drivers in line who are ready to pay Tk 600. How can I take the risk?" he said.

HM Iqbal, general secretary of Dhaka CNG Auto Rickshaw Owners' Association, said drivers were just making excuses for overcharging.

The owners' associations alongside the BRTA campaigned for the implementation of the new rules, he said. "Of course I do not claim a 100 percent implementation of the new daily fees, but at least 75 percent have been implemented."

Continuous raids by BRTA mobile teams could make the implementation of the new rules a success, he suggested.

Humayun Rashid added that the BRTA mobile drives are conducted whenever magistrates are available. A magistrate from the CMM court is currently assisting BRTA conduct its drives and "it would continue the drives as long as the magistrate is available".