‘Don’t collect tolls from transports outside terminal perimeters’

The Bangladesh government has instructed all local authorities, especially city corporations and municipalities, to make sure that their appointed leaseholders do not collect tolls from inter-city transports outside the perimeters of a terminal.

The Road Transport and Highways Division and the LGRD ministry issued the directive on Saturday in line with a recent High Court Division order that asked the government to take necessary measures in this connection, according to bdnews24.com.

The High Court issued the order on Apr 21 this year, responding to a writ petition filed by Soumendra Nath Saha, general secretary of Kushtia District Truck Owners’ Association.

In the petition, Saha challenged the legality of collection of tolls by leaseholders from public transports and trucks, violating an LGRD ministry directive issued in 2015, which banned any toll collection obstructing traffic movement on roads and highways.

Illegal rampant toll collection by the so-called leaseholders has long been identified as an immense problem on the highways and on the streets of the city and municipality jurisdictions. Experts have pointed out the practice as one of the key reasons for transport costs of people and goods to go up.