Passengers remain hostage to cab drivers at ZIA

Common scene
An incoming passenger surrounded and hassled by some cab drivers' men at ZIA.Photo: Anisur Rahman

Ashfaq Hossain heaved a sigh of relief as he got into the taxicab. Soaking wet from the downpour, Hossain was a bit surprised with his sudden stroke of luck as the very first taxi he tried agreed to take him without any haggling.
Getting a taxicab in Dhaka city can always be a daunting task especially for those arriving at the airport at an ungodly hour. Hossain was returning home from abroad last month.
As Hossain glanced back over his shoulder towards the arrival lounge of Zia International Airport (ZIA) where an edgy crowd was still looking for transportation in the heavy downpour, he considered himself quite lucky to have stumbled upon one of the honest taxi drivers in the city.
Hossain's feeling of contentment was short-lived as only a couple of minutes later, the driver demanded Tk 500 for the trip from the airport to Farmgate. "The car belongs to the [airport] counter service. If you do not wish to pay, then you have to get off," the driver told him with a straight face.
Even though the usual taxi fare from the airport to Farmgate would be around Tk 100, the heavy rainstorm left Hossain with no choice but to agree and pay the outrageous fare.
"I tried to reason with him, but I was told that the taxi belonged to the airport authorities or something and they have a fixed fare policy. Besides, I was too tired to argue with him and agreed to pay the fare," said Hossain.
After he reached his destination, the driver did not even give him any receipt or any other official document showing that the driver had accepted the payment, Hossain added.
The taxicab Hossain got on carried the name Premium Passenger Service on it and was one of the few hundred taxicabs permitted to operate from the ZIA under the supervision of the airport authorities.
This 'premium service' has been in operation at ZIA since the 1980s. Under this scheme, no commercial transportation vehicle can operate at ZIA without the authorization from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).
"It is for the convenience of the passengers at the airport," said a CAAB official adding, "Since all the vehicles and their drivers are listed in our database, their passengers can feel safe and secure. They can travel without any fear of being conned," he said.
Though it sounds like a good idea, the taxicab service has turned into more of a nuisance for the passengers over the years.
A number of CAAB officials also admitted that passengers have numerous complaints and grievances against the cab drivers.
Apart from the most common incident of overcharging, there have been instances when drivers forced passengers out onto the streets, sources said. Besides, a section of middlemen cheat the incoming passengers while beggars press for 'foreign currencies'.
During a visit to the airport, this correspondent approached a number of taxicabs in the guise of a passenger en route to Farmgate. A driver sporting a black shirt and white pants asked where exactly the correspondent would get off.
Having acknowledged the destination, the driver yelled out to another driver sitting nearby, "How much should I charge for Farmgate?"
The other driver replied, "I think it is Tk 450." Another elderly driver said, "No, Farmgate should be Tk 500."
After a row of reasoning and requests, the driver finally agreed on Tk 460, under 'special' consideration that the correspondent 'did not have any luggage with him'.
When asked to check the official fare for the trip to Farmgate, the driver reluctantly dug out a bunch of jumbled up papers to check the official fare structure.
As it turned out, the official fare to Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Shyamoli or Mohammadpur is surprisingly Tk 420. But the genuineness of the papers on the fare chart could not be verified.
According to CAAB officials, the higher fare is charged to provide safer and more secure services. "Our cabs are safer and more reliable. If you even leave behind any valuables in them, you will get them back," said an official from the ticket counter office.
"We charge double or a fare of a round trip charged by other rental cars as the taxi drivers have to sit around the whole day for a passenger," he said.
However, the raggedy and battered taxis with busted front and backlights, no air conditioning and drivers without uniforms did not appear any more secure than the average taxis. Besides, none of the taxicabs had any complaint boxes inside -- as required by the scheme supervised by CAAB.
There are around 400 taxicabs and microbuses from 12 organisations operating under the authorization of CAAB at the airport. These vehicles have been operating without any formal rules or guidelines for years, said sources.
In June this year, the CAAB authorities came up with a draft plan. The draft plan proposes to bar vehicles older than nine years from operating under the scheme. It also proposes a simple fare structure and mandatory uniform for the drivers, added the sources.
"We are aware of the problems in the service and we are looking into them," said Nurul Islam, chief security officer of CAAB. "We have comprehensive plans to revamp the whole service. There's a plan to employ a single transportation company with good reputation to provide taxi service from the airport," he said.
To operate taxi service from the airport, a transport service provider is required to have at least a fleet of 20 vehicles.
Although the authorised taxicabs are required to display authorisation stickers provided by CAAB, many taxicabs on the ZIA premises were seen operating without these.