DEMANDING to change the system, Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association said that company-based route permit system for buses in Dhaka city is the main cause of extortion. Under the system, some four to five people form a company and register it with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms. They then seek a route permit from the Metro Regional Transport Committee and after getting those for a certain number of buses; they allow other bus owners into their company. They then charge the bus owners “daily fees”. And the extortion begins.
The Transport Owners Association has given the statement at a time when there are widespread allegations of extortion by an influential syndicate in the transport sector, particularly targeting the passenger buses. However, Association President and its Secretary General at a recent press conference refuted the allegation of extortion and said it only collects subscription fees from its members to run the organisational activities. Interestingly, they were apparently countering the statements of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik-Sramik Oikya League, a relatively new platform of transport owners and workers, who accused the association and particularly its top leaders, of collecting illegal toll.
Stopping the collection of such ‘fees’ seems simple. The current system of issuing route permit should be changed to what it was previously, when bus owners could directly get permits for their buses. This would stop the collection of Tk 700-1400 per bus by these companies and thus bring about an equilibrium in the sector. Other illegal tolls by security forces or some other platforms could be stopped by the installation of CCTVs on highways across the country. If maintained properly they could give damning evidence against anyone who tried to collect tolls from buses and trucks in general.
What’s true is that the ruling party-backed some organised groups keep control on the transport sector while extortion is a lucrative business for them. Millions of taka is collected from transport sector daily through extortion and the share money allegedly goes to different levels, including law enforcement agencies.
As political stalwarts are directly or indirectly involved with the illegal business, it is impossible to stop extortion in transport sector so easily. The government is not in a position to stop the extortionists without facing hard resistance from within. But this wrong must be punished.
