Passengers suffer due to fare hike on various routes during Eid holidays: Jatri Kalyan Samity

Alleging that transport workers are collecting extra fares on various routes of land and waterways during the Eid journey, Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity has demanded the increased presence of mobile courts of Consumer Rights Protection Directorate, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and district administration to stop this anarchy.

The efforts of the law and order forces in controlling the traffic jams and crowding during Eid this year is commendable but the malpractice of collecting extra fare on various routes during the Eid journey is still continuing, said Secretary General of the organisation Mozammel Haque Chowdhury in a statement sent to the media on Tuesday (27 June).

Since Monday, an additional fare of Tk300 to Tk500 was being charged depending on the route from Dhaka to North Bengal and South Bengal. This extra amount was further increased today.

Almost double the usual fare is being collected from Chattogram to Bhola, Lakshipur, Noakhali and North Bengal.

Also passengers from Dhaka to Feni have to pay Chattogram's fare, passengers from Dhaka to Satkania or Amirabad have to pay Cox's Bazar fare. Similarly the passengers from Dhaka to Bogura have to pay fare for Jashore or Satkhira. Thus, short distance passengers have to pay long haul fares.

Extra fare is also being charged on waterways. Even though fare anarchy is going on like this, there is no administrative action against them.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury demanded to increase the activity of mobile courts of the BRTA, Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and district administration.

He said that in digital Bangladesh, passengers are still being harassed due to lack of proper management in various areas including ticket sales, black market of tickets and unplanned vehicle management. To prevent these fare hikes, vigilance teams or monitoring committees are formed every year on Eid by BRTA and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), but their existence is not found anywhere.

He demanded taking effective steps to prevent such fare hikes as well as to stop movement of buses and launches which do not have fitness.