Car hire companies boom

Two microbuses wait in front of a car hire office.

The number of car hire companies has rocketed in the last decade, as more and more business groups rent rather than own their own vehicles.
According to industry sources, there are now around 1000 car rental groups operating in the country, up from around 100 ten years ago. They range in size from companies with just a handful of vehicles to larger groups with a fleet of several hundred cars and buses.
For the past few years the car hire market has been showing double-digit growth.
Currently, the biggest clients are the mobile telecom operators, multinational companies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Dhaka Tours Rent-A-Car Association, one of the oldest car rental companies in the city, has 50 microbuses and cars (Sedans), which they rent out to Grameen Phone, Nokia, Siemens, Bangladesh Bank, Dhaka Sheraton and Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.
Rafiq Alam, general manager of Dhaka Tours, said the car rental services started booming in recent years, with booming mobile telecom operators and multinational companies.
International groups are also present in the Bangladesh market. Hertz International Licensee, one of the leading car rental companies in the city, has a fleet of 164 cars, including bus and microbus.
“Our biggest clients are Banglalink, AKTEL, Best Air and Westin, and we rent out vehicles on a monthly basis,” said Abdul Kaium, logistic officer of Hertz.
He said they charge Tk 1 lakh for each vehicle monthly.
Pathachola Rent a Car, comparatively new in the business, started with a very small investment of only one microbus eight years back. It has now 16 cars and is planning to expand its business with new 5 cars by the year-end.
SM Jewel, the company's general manager, said, “Now this business has become profitable. Once you buy a car you can rent it out.”
Grameen Phone (GP), the country's largest mobile phone operator, hires 200 buses and cars everyday from different rental services firms.
“We do hire cars to meet our requirements, both in Dhaka and our other regional offices,” said Syed Yamin Bakht, public relations director of GP.
“It's somewhat profitable, because when hire cars from the rental services companies we need not to look after some issues, such as servicing of the car, or employing and maintaining drivers as members of the staff,” a senior manager of GP said.
Asaduzzaman Litu, administrative executive of Citycell, echoed him and said they have to spend around Tk 30 lakh per month for hiring cars.