E-ticketing fails to bring discipline in Dhaka public transport

A private company employee Salman Hossain travelling a Shikor Paribahan bus from Farmgate to Matsya Bhavan intersection in the capital was charged Tk15, and a ticket was given from Farmgate to Gulistan. When the matter was protested, the bus supervisor said before Gulistan, there is no bus stoppage after Shahbagh. So if you take an e-ticket, you have to pay the fare for Gulistan. Besides, they also pretend to have waybill checks on the roads.

Salman Hossain told The Business Standard that after e-ticketing was launched, it went smoothly for a few days.  Now, it's back to the old ways. The maximum fare for the 3.5 km from Farmgate to Matsya Bhavan intersection is Tk10. But the buses charged the fare as per their wishes.

Moreover, most of the buses plying on Dhaka streets do not issue tickets. A passenger named Shahana Begum was charged Tk15 for travelling to Banglamotor from Motijheel without providing a ticket.

She told TBS, "The bus supervisor charged Tk15 from me although the fare is Tk10. When I asked for a ticket, the bus conductor said there was a problem with the POS machine."

Not only Salman Hossain or Shahana Begum, but most passengers have similar experiences with public transport on city roads.

The "e-ticketing" system was launched on an experimental basis in September last year to bring discipline to Dhaka's public transport. Later in phases, it was introduced in most of the buses.

Commuters hoped that the long-standing chaos over the fare would resolve and there would  no longer be the need to argue over the issue after getting on the bus. But after a few days, that chaotic situation is back.

Most bus companies have started the waybill system with complaints of overcharging from the passengers in the name of e-tickets. Additionally, fares are different in e-tickets as stoppages of different companies' buses plying on the same route are different.

Passengers complain that the assistants of bus drivers, those who will implement this initiative, are not interested in providing tickets despite passengers' urge for tickets. Moreover, deprived passengers cannot lodge a complaint with phone calls as the phone numbers given on the tickets are switched off.

During spot visits in the last few days, The Business Standard found that most of the bus assistants are overcharging the passengers in the name of e-tickets in many buses plying on different routes, including Motijheel, Gulistan, Paltan, Shahbagh, Karwan Bazar, Farmgate, Mirpur, Gabtali and others.

Arguments were seen between passengers and assistants for overcharging. Besides, tickets are given to passengers mentioning a specific stoppage even if they board the bus from another place, which also triggered squabbles. 

In the first phase, 30 Mirpur-route bus companies were brought under e-ticketing last November. In the second phase, buses of 15 more companies were brought under the system in January this year.

According to the Dhaka Transport Owners Association, about 3,500 buses from 60 companies ply 96 routes in Dhaka. Besides, about 2,500 buses of about 40 other companies enter Dhaka from various neighbouring cities. About 6,000 buses from 100 companies operate public transport in Dhaka.

Rabiul Islam, an assistant of Shikor Paribahan bus, which plies Jatrabari-Mirpur route, told TBS that e-tickets are available in buses, but it is not possible to issue tickets to everyone due to the pressure of passengers. Fares based on all the stoppages are not mentioned in the POS machines. So, passengers were overcharged sometimes.

"Besides, the owners collect money from the buses by waybill system. So, it is useless whether we gave tickets or not. To avoid a mobile court case, we collect some fare by issuing the tickets," he said.

Regarding not providing tickets, Ayat Paribahan's assistant Jamal told TBS, sometimes, passengers have less money, and in that case, the ticket is not given. Again, many assistants do not want to pay for tickets to make a profit. There is a complaint number on the ticket, and passengers can complain.

While talking to The Business Standard, passengers complaints against the buses of several companies including Ayat, Bihongo, Bikolpo Auto Service, Mirpur Link, Shikor, Khwaja Baba, Alif Paribahan from Mirpur and Ramzan, Bahon, Gabtali Express Bus from Mohammadpur and Trans Silva Limited, Manzil Paribahan from Jatrabari regarding e-ticketing.

However, bus attendants said it is not possible to issue tickets to all passengers as there are more standing passengers in the seating service buses.

All buses carry more passengers than capacity as fewer buses ply the city streets every day for various reasons.

It was seen on various buses that if passengers argue for tickets, the bus assistants provide tickets to some. In many cases, the assistants show excuses that the POS machine has run out of paper or the machine was charging at the filling station. Passengers also complained that e-tickets are not served at nighttime bus rides.

Khandkar Enayet Ullah, general secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association, told TBS that many problems arose in implementing e-ticketing. And nine special teams are working at the field to settle these issues. 

All buses operating in the capital will be brought under e-ticketing by 28 February this month, he said.

"We have already talked to the BRTA about specifying the distance of the journey on the ticket. Hopefully, we can settle the matter," he added.

Accepting that there are still irregularities in buses and waybill systems as before, he said, "We are working on this. It takes some time to develop a system. We hope these issues will be resolved within a few days."

Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, told TBS, "If cash transactions are not stopped in public transport, fare anarchy will not reduce. It is not possible to bring discipline on roads only by introducing e-ticketing. This system will not change chaos in public transport if extortion and anarchy cannot be prevented."

He also said, "In e-ticketing, fares have increased in some places and decreased in some places. Our passengers need legal protection. We are disappointed as e-ticketing totally failed to meet expectations."

A radical change is needed in the transport sector. Without this, it is not possible to solve this problem, he added.