Badrul Ahsan :
Most of the drivers of CNG-run auto rickshaws in the city are demanding exorbitant charges from the passengers despite revision of fares by the government on meter
The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry from November 1 increased passengers’ fares and also the rent of CNG-run auto-rickshaws in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolises.
As per the revised fare chart, a passenger have to pay Tk 40 for travelling the first two kilometres in place of the previous Tk 25. For additional travel, a passenger has to pay Tk 12 for each kilometre instead of previous Tk 7.64.
After a visit to different areas of the city, this correspondent found that many drivers of CNG-run auto-rickshaws agreed to go on hire on meter.
In some cases, if few of them agree to abide by the new fare, they were found demanding extra Tk 20 to Tk 50 extra as bokshis (tips).
In many cases, drivers were found reluctant to go to the desired destinations despite offering higher fare by the passengers.Passengers accused the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the law-enforcing agencies of not monitoring the enforcement of new fare structure which was put into effect from November 1 last. “It seems there is none to establish the right of passengers on road. We are helpless to the driver’s whims. Audacity of the drivers is going beyond tolerance gradually,” Tanisa Tasbassum, a passenger said.
Abidur Rahman Munsi, another passenger alleged that the law-enforcers rarely take care of the passengers’ allegations against the CNG drivers about disobeying new fare chart.
“The fare hike has become boon for the drivers and their owners. Not for the passengers,” he said.
However, in some cases, passengers were also found less interested to hire auto rickshaw on meter to avoid counting extra bucks caused by the traffic jam.
“Things are not going well. The BRTA is not monitoring properly. They also do not have enough workforce,” Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Passengers’ Welfare Association, told The New Nation on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, replying to a query of the NN, a driver of CNG-run auto-rickshaws cited the reason of higher charges as the owners of the vehicles were collecting extra money from them than the government-fixed rate of Tk 900 per day. “We are bound to charge more as the owners are charging us more. They charge us Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,500 per day instead of the officially fixed fares (Tk 900). So we have to shift the load on the passengers,” Abul Kalam, a driver told The New Nation.
In this connection, the Dhaka Auto Rickshaw Sramik Union on December filed an application with the BRTA to take action against the owners for violating the government rule.
The union also enclosed a list of owners of 39 auto-rickshaws who are allegedly charging additional amount although the concern authority is yet to take any action against them.
When contacted, BRTA Director (enforcement) Bijoy Bhushan Paul said they are operating five courts everyday along with special drives to implement the new fare structure.
According to the BRTA, they filed around 150 cases against law-breaking autos. It also dumped around 20 CNG-run auto rickshaws and realised fines amounting to about Tk 2,50,000 in the last one month.
Around 13,000 CNG-run auto-rickshaws are now plying in the capital.
