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The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has provided enlistment certificates to over 5,000 vehicles of different ride-sharing companies in a bid to expand the service amid pandemic.
The regulatory body on Tuesday updated the number of enlisted vehicles with some 11 ride-sharing companies totaling the number to 5,417.
The number, however, does not include motor bikes due to health safety grounds.
The BRTA said that enlistment with the regulators is key for both the companies and vehicles to get permission for the service.
Earlier, the BRTA allowed the country’s ride-sharing companies to resume their services on June 21 with only 255 enlisted vehicles.
The services are allowed in Dhaka, Gazipur, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Narayanganj and Narsingdi from with effect from June 21, according to a notification issued by BRTA.
Meanwhile, among the total number of enlisted vehicles, Uber has got 4,993 vehicles enlisted with the regulatory body afresh.
To comply with the directive, Uber has been raising awareness amongst the driver community to apply for enlistment certificates and also facilitating the application process on the BRTA portal, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ratul Ghosh, head of Bangladesh and East India, Uber, said, “As our cities start to open, we want to ensure safe and convenient transport to Move Bangladesh Forward and help our communities on the path to recovery.”
We remain committed to working with authorities to facilitate the enlistment process for our drivers so that they can start earning a livelihood through our platform as soon as possible and are confident that our ridesharing services are best placed to provide the highest standards of safety and hygiene for riders and drivers in the new normal, he added.
To ensure social distancing while travelling in an Uber, the company has also instituted new seat limits allowing only two riders in a car other than the driver and advising riders to sit in the rear seat.