No passenger bus will be allowed to ply in the city streets in the name of ‘Sitting Service’ or ‘Gate Lock’ from today (Sunday), said Chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority Md Moshiar Rahman yesterday. He announced it in a press briefing after a meeting with the leaders of the Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity in the BRTA head office in the city.
Moshiar Rahman said seats must be reserved in every bus for women and physically-challenged people, and the bus staff must not misuse those reserved seats.
He said, action will be taken if anyone charges extra fare from passengers. The fare chart fixed by BRTA must be displayed in every bus to be easily seen.
General secretary of Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity Khandker Enayetullah said that the BRTA magistrates would conduct drives to enforce the decision. He said the decision is being implemented to restore discipline in all the passenger buses the capital.
Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity, an association of the owners of the passenger buses in the capital, in a meeting on April 4 decided against operation of ‘Sitting Service’ or ‘Gate Lock’ from April 15, as additional fare was being collected from passengers in the guise of such services.
About the delay in executing the decision, it was not possible as the association leaders could not sit on Friday with the BRTA due to the Pahela Baishakh celebration.
“We met the BRTA on Saturday and reached consensus of stopping Sitting Service and Gate Lock. Five teams of the samity would keep watch on the buses in the interest of the passengers,” he said.
