End public transport fare anarchy: Jatri Kalyan Samity

Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passengers' welfare platform, claimed today that public transportations are taking unfair advantage of lockdown directives by "robbing" passengers while carrying more people than allowed.

"The low-income citizens are bearing the burn as a result of demanding fare, which is 2-4 times higher than the usual," said Secretary-General of the organisation Mozammel Haque Chowdhury in a media statement issued on Sunday (4 March).

He said in the statement, "After the announcement of the 7-day lockdown on Saturday, people rushed to bus terminals and counters where long-distance bus services were seen to ignore government directives on health guidelines to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. They have charged double the fare while carrying passengers of its highest capacity."

Although the government increased the bus fares by 60%, in some cases, the public transport owners of the city service have increased the fares by 180%.

Earlier on 30 March, the government instructed all the public transports to run with 50 percent passengers of its capacity from 31 March amid the fresh wave of coronavirus infection. Besides, public transport fares were increased by 60%.