2024-04-08 06:32:39
About 1.6 million people from Dhaka and surrounding areas are going home on this Eid trip. In addition to making the journey of common passengers safe and smooth, there are various activities of various organizations of the government to stop the collection of excess fares. Meanwhile, passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 983 crore 94 lakh to leave Dhaka only for the Eid journey this year.
On Sunday (April 7) afternoon, Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association Secretary General Md. This information was informed in the statement sent by Mozammel Haque Chowdhury. The members of the sub-committee monitoring the collection of additional fares in the public transport of the organization from April 3 to 6 have released this information after observing the situation of Eid travel, collection of additional fares and the overall situation of passenger services on road, rail, sea and air routes of the country from Dhaka.
According to the observation of the organization, in terms of bus fare determination, two Eid bonuses for bus drivers, assistants and fare collectors are imposed on the daily fare collected, but some unscrupulous bus owners-drivers have not paid attention to these, and the anarchy of collecting extra fares has occurred this Eid. Due to rise in commodity prices, increase in extortion in Eid-centric transport, provision of additional cost to transport companies, removal of Eid bonus of driver-assistants and other supporting employees, transport owners taking extra profit, various transport companies and private transports run on rent compete with each other. Seen to collect rent. Although the members of the vigilance team are sitting in the temporary offices of the various road and sea terminals, they do not feel the need to see or remedy these. Talking to the members of the vigilance team, it is said that if any passenger complains, they will take action. Passengers say that even though such fare anarchy is going on in front of the members of the vigilance team, they are pretending not to see it. What is the benefit of informing them?
Most passengers will be transported by sea this Eid. About 6 million passengers will go to different destinations in the country through various ghats including Sadarghat and Narayanganj river port of Dhaka. An average of 50 taka to 800 taka per passenger is being collected according to the category. If the additional fare is collected at the rate of Tk 200 per passenger on an average, Tk 120 crore additional fare will have to be collected from these passengers before Eid.
CNG-powered auto-rickshaw drivers plying in the capital have gone into anarchy over charging extra fares on the eve of Eid. Every passenger has to pay an extra fare of Tk 200 per trip on an average while using these autos for daily activities besides shopping on Eid, traveling to various terminals. About 7 million trip passengers in 25 thousand CNG-powered auto-rickshaws plying in the capital before Eid will have to pay more than Tk 140 crore in extra fare.
EasyBike, pedal-powered rickshaws are charging extra fare at an average rate of Tk 20 per passenger in the name of Eid Bakshis. Jatri Kalyan Samiti thinks that around 1 million easybikes, battery-powered rickshaws, pedal-powered rickshaws plying in the capital can handle 140 million trips. Passengers in these vehicles will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 280 crore.
About 80 lakh trip passengers in the 7 thousand human haulers plying in the capital known as Laguna, Durant, Digant nana will have to pay an average of Tk 20 extra fare in the name of Eid bakshis before Eid. As such, additional rent of more than Tk 16 crore will be collected in Dhaka’s Laguna.
Due to the long holiday this Eid, about 30 lakh passengers are traveling from Dhaka by private transport in private cars, jeeps and microbuses. In these vehicles, 50 percent of the passengers use their own transport, but 1.5 lakh passengers have to pay extra fare at an average rate of Tk 3500 per trip to go home on Eid in hired vehicles. Accordingly, passengers using this transport will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 112 crore.
This Eid, 3 million passengers traveling on long-distance routes from Dhaka have to pay extra fare at an average rate of Tk 300 per passenger. Accordingly, bus passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 90 crore.
City service buses plying in Dhaka metropolis every year on Eid collects a fare of Tk 50 per head in the name of Eid gratuity from 2 days before Eid to any destination. This time too, on the 2 days before Eid, 4.8 lakh trips on 4 thousand city buses of Dhaka are taken from passengers at an average rate of 30 taka per head.
Around 1.2 million passengers are going home on motorcycles this Eid to avoid public transport crisis, extra fare collection, not getting tickets at the right time, traffic jams and other problems. 30 percent of them are using their own bikes. Others have to pay an average fare of Tk 300 more than the normal time per passenger on the right-sharing motorcycle. In this 8 lakh 40 thousand motorcycle passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 25 crore 20.
This Eid, after adding additional coaches, additional rail rakes as Eid special, Dhaka 7 lakh passengers are going to different districts of the country. 3 lakh 22 passengers will leave the capital in 1 week as 46 thousand ticket holders along with 40 thousand regular tickets as well as 15 percent standing tickets. Apart from this, about 3 lakh 78 thousand passengers will travel without tickets on the roof of the train, in the engine, between two compartments, inside the coach. Even though the authorities have lost a lot of revenue due to such a large number of passengers traveling without tickets, the TTEs, guards, government-private stewards, private canteen operators, GRPs, NRBs and station ticket checkers working on the running trains at an average rate of Tk 300 per passenger is 11 crore 34 lakhs. Money has to be paid as a bribe.
If the festival of collecting extra fares starts 10 days before Eid in public and private airlines. In some ways, double or triple additional fare is being collected. According to Jatri Kalyan Samity, lakhs of passengers will be robbed of Tk 35 crore extra fare if they pay an average fare of Tk 3500 per passenger on domestic routes before Eid.
On the occasion of Eid, the people of the ghat leasers collect a fee of 2 taka from the passengers traveling by water at the Sadarghat river port and Khyaghat at the rate of 10/20. During this time, a coolie wage charge of 500 to 1000 thousand taka is demanded for crossing the Kheya with goods or boarding the launch. A toll is demanded for each Eidbazar packet at Kheya crossing. According to the calculations of the Passenger Welfare Association, 140 million passengers will travel on Kheya crossing near Sadarghat, Narayanganj river port this Eid. At the rate of 10 taka per head of these passengers, 140 crore additional tolls will be looted by the people of the wharf lessee with the connivance of the corrupt officials of BIWTA.
It can be seen that before this Eid, passengers traveling within Dhaka city and traveling from Dhaka to different districts of the country will have to pay an additional fare of more than Tk 983 crore 94 lakh. If we calculate the entire country, this estimate can increase three to four times. Due to such excessive rent anarchy, commodity prices, extortion, social unrest, irregularities-corruption and road accidents are increasing. Low income people are suffering. Introducing smart fare collection system in public transport for transit from here. Cessation of cash transactions. Introduction of CCCAMRA system prosecution system on roads and highways. Yatri Kalyan Samiti feels it is important to ensure the good governance of the law.