Extra fare for using toll-free flyover!

A group of transport owners are realising additional fare from commuters for using a flyover, although the government has fixed no toll for that.

Metro Probhati, a city bus service, is realising the additional fare, which is more than the government-fixed rate, on a route in the port city.

Chittagong Metropolitan Paribahan Malik Group launched the bus service on Route 10 between Patenga Sea Beach and Kaptai Rastar Matha on January 14.

The government has fixed Tk 5 for first three kilometres, but the minibus service is realising Tk 10 in the name of “faster” service.

Moreover, the service has been realising Tk 30 for the eight-kilometre distance between Bahaddarhat and Agrabad intersection for using the flyover for around a month.

Abdul Aziz, a resident of city's Panchlaish area, said he was surprised when the counter man demanded Tk 30 on Monday, while other city buses take Tk 12 for the same distance.

The “special” service would go over the flyover, the counter man argued.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of Passengers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh, said the transport owners often start realising additional fare in the name of special services. After a few days the “special” service disappears and only the additional fare remains, he added.

Belayet Hossain Belal, secretary general of Chittagong Metropolitan Paribahan Malik Group, said the flyover service was initiated only for the eight-km route from Bahaddarhat to Agrabad.

“The service was launched at the request of some women officials who work in Agrabad. They requested us to launch a quick service to reach their offices in time,” he said, adding, “Only two buses -- one at 8:45am and other at 9:00am -- ply this route.”

He said these buses miss four stops for using the flyover and thus count loss.

However, Shahedul Azam, another commuter, said buses of Metro Probhati offer sitting service and should not take passengers on the road.

“Seats of their buses always remain occupied. Their argument of missing passengers is not valid,” he said.

Debdas Bhattacharjee, additional commissioner (traffic) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said they had no information of realising additional fare for using the flyover.

“They [bus service] cannot do it. They rather reach the destination quickly for using the flyover and thus consume less fuel,” he said.

“We will look into the matter,” he added.