BRTA proposes raising long-route bus fares by 20 paisa per kilometre

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) on Monday proposed raising fares of inter-district buses by 20 paisa per kilometre a day after the hike in refined petroleum oil prices by Tk20 per litre.

The fares for metropolitan area buses has to be raised by 18 paisa per kilometre, as per the proposal.

The proposal has already been sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, and a formal notification is expected by Tuesday, sources said.

BRTA officials has decided to avoid adding other relevant cost, which are usually included in bus fare hikes to adjust with any recent fuel price hike.

The minimum fares for regular passenger buses has been retained at Tk10, as per the proposal.

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The BRTA sent the proposal after convening a meeting with leaders from the transport owners’ and workers’ associations at the BRTA head office in Banani in the capital on Monday.

The meeting lasted two hours starting 3pm, said ASM Ahmed Khokon, general secretary at Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity, a group of bus owners.

BRTA officials have agreed to hike the fares by 20 paisa per kilometre to help the bus owners afford the fuel price hike, Ahmed Khokon told reporters.

The final decision rests with the ministry, which is likely to issue a notification within a day or two, he added.

Bus owners asked BRTA officials to ensure that the notification is issued on Monday night to avoid arbitrary fare hikes by different owners, Ahmed Khokon further said.

On Sunday night, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division announced Tk20 hike per litre for all types of refined petroleum oil. The price of diesel, most commonly used in buses, has been raised to Tk135 from Tk115 per litre.

The last major price adjustment was made in April, when diesel prices were raised by Tk15 per litre to Tk115 per litre.

Afterwards, the inter-district bus fare price was hiked by Tk0.11 to Tk2.23 per kilometre. The fare for buses in Dhaka and Chattogram cities was also raised by Tk0.11 to T2.53 per kilometre.