'Tk 8,000cr extra transport fare being looted this Eid'

Alleging that Tk 8,000 crore extra fare is being looted by transport owners-workers and extortionists during the Eid journey, Jatri Kalyan Samity today (April 28, 2022) demanded stopping such anarchy in transport sector and harassment of passengers.

Taking advantage of the public transport crisis this Eid, a powerful syndicate has been formed under the leadership of some unscrupulous owners and transport extortionists, said Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, secretary general of the organisation, in a written statement.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity today.

Due to the patronage of some dishonest law enforcers, the government is unable to stop such anarchy despite various efforts, he said.

"This Eid journey – from April 25 to May 10 – there may be about 60 crore trips on all the routes," he added.

Jatri Kalyan Samity's observations showed that rickshaw fares in urban areas have gone up by 20 percent since April 25.

From tomorrow, the fares may go up by 100 percent. At the same time, auto-rickshaw, easybike fares are also being increased two to three times.

This Eid, drivers, workers and transport extortionists have become desperate to collect the fare at this rate, the rights body observed.

This onslaught on the already overburdened public cannot be prevented by the Department of Consumer Rights Protection, BRTA, mobile courts of the district administration, it said. Even imposing fines at the counters does not seem to deter this.

An additional Tk 100-1,200 fare per passenger is being charged for buses to the northern districts, it said.

This anarchy has also reached its peak on the waterways. The black marketing of tickets in the railways, the confusion over tickets online are also rampant.

Such anarchy is even prevalent in airfare this time around, for which passengers are now in a state of disrepair, Mozammel also said.