News Desk :
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has compiled a list of new bus fares for 128 routes in the capital to prevent anarchy in public transport system. It said the new fare list “would not apply to petrol, octane and CNG-powered buses”.
Sources said the BRTA completed the list on Tuesday night. These fare lists are now visible on the buses.
The BRTA has mentioned in the fare list published to prevent fare anarchy that “the new fare list will not apply for petrol, octane and CNG powered buses. The list has been prepared with a minimum rent of Tk 10.”
In Dhaka, BRTA’s nine mobile courts and two mobile courts of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are conducting raids to curb extra bus fares.
Meanwhile, a vigilance team of transport owners which was formed to stop extra bus fares on Manik Mia Avenue in the capital on Saturday is monitoring the situation.
Mohammad Shahidullah, deputy director of BRTA’s Mirpur circle office, said the rent list has been updated. Besides, we have started putting separate stickers on CNG and diesel-powered buses. Action will be taken if the minimum fare on the bus is charged more than Tk 10.
Earlier, the BRTA increased the fares charged by the operators of diesel-run buses by about 27 percent starting on Monday amid a transport strike that created nationwide chaos.
City buses now charge Tk 2.15 per kilometre, a 26.47 percent increase from the old price of Tk 1.70. The fare for long-haul buses has increased from Tk 1.42 per kilometre to Tk 1.80, a 26.76 percent jump. The minimum fare has been set at Tk 10 for buses, and Tk 8 for minibuses.
The fares for CNG-operated buses will remain unchanged. “CNG-run buses cannot increase the fares by even a single paisa,” said Nur Mohammad Mazumder, chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority or BRTA.The BRTA set the new rates in a meeting to readjust the fares on Sunday following a 23 percent hike in diesel prices. It then sent the rates to the road transport and bridges ministry that published a circular on the new fares hours after the meeting.
Transport owners demanded a 40 percent hike in bus fares at the meeting with the BRTA.
The government increased the prices of diesel and kerosene by Tk 15 to Tk 80 per litre on Wednesday, citing a volatile global oil market. Transport owners and workers then called the strike in response, demanding either a rise in fares or a reversal of the hike in diesel prices.
