City holidaymakers to pay Tk 9.84b additional fare on journeys before Eid: Report
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Public transport operators will extract an additional Tk 9.84 billion from the passengers before this Eid journey despite various government efforts to stop the collection of extra fares, alleged a passenger welfare association.
About 10.6 million people are going home from Dhaka and surrounding areas using different modes of transport during this Eid-ul-Fitr rush, Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh (Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity) said in its field observation on road, rail, waterways and air routes in Dhaka from April 03 to April 06.
The association talked to the government vigilance team in this regard.
The vigilance team said that if any passenger complains, they would take action. Passengers, however, conveyed to the association that even though such fare anarchy was going on in front of the members of the vigilance team, they were pretending not to see it.
Most passengers will be transported through water transport during this Eid. About 6 million passengers are expected to go to different destinations in the country through various ferry terminals including Sadarghat and Narayanganj river ports, the association said.
An average of Tk 50 to Tk 800 per passenger is being charged as extra fare, depending on the category. Approximately Tk 1.20 billion would be charged as additional fare from these water transport passengers before Eid, it estimated.
CNG-run auto-rickshaws plying in the capital have also joined anarchy in charging extra fares around Eid. About 7 million trip passengers in 25,000 CNG-powered auto rickshaws plying in the city before Eid are estimated to pay more than Tk 1.40 billion in extra fare.
Around 1 million easy bikes, battery-powered rickshaws, and 140 million pedal-powered rickshaws can travel in the capital. Passengers in these vehicles will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 2.80 billion.
Due to the long holiday this time, 3 million passengers are expected to travel through private transports like cars, motorbike, microbus and others from Dhaka. In these vehicles, 50 per cent of the passengers use their own transport, but 15 million passengers will have to pay extra fare at an average rate of Tk 3500 per trip to go home on Eid in hired vehicles.
Besides, 3 million passengers travelling on the long-distance route buses 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 900 million.
Every year on Eid, the city services buses plying in Dhaka metropolis collect a fare of Tk 50 per head of passengers in the name of Eid gratuity from two days before Eid to any destination. Passengers will have to pay an additional 140 million.
About 1.2 million passengers are going home to the village on motorcycles this Eid. 30 per cent 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. Passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 250 million.
The festival of collecting extra fares starts 10 days before Eid in public and private airlines.
In some ways, three times the additional fare is being charged. According to the association, passengers will have to pay an additional fare of Tk 350 million if they pay an average fare of Tk 3500 per passenger on domestic routes before Eid, it added.