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People return to Dhaka after celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr with their families in village homes. The photo was taken at Kamalapur railway station on Tuesday. -NAZMUL ISLAM
The holidaymakers, who left the capital to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr with their near and dear ones across the country, started returning to the capital on Tuesday by buses, launches, and trains amid the allegation of overcharged fares and a fuel crisis.
The returnees on the roads said that they were charged higher than the price fixed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and the journey had been prolonged due to the fuel crisis.
They said that transport owners charged fares Tk50-500 higher than the approved rate, but not many activities by the regulatory authorities like BRTA were seen with regard to the issues.
The public and private offices reopened on Tuesday after more than a week of holiday, and people swarmed into the capital to attend the first day at office.
Al Amin Hossain, a private company employee who returned to Dhaka on Monday night from Patuakhali, said that he was charged higher than the regular price by Labiba Enterprise operators.
He said, “I was charged Tk1,000 as I boarded a Labiba Enterprise bus from Shakharia to Dhaka’s Nadda area. The regular price of the ticket was Tk700, but it was charged Tk300 more. I was forced to buy the ticket as there was a shortage of transport and I had to attend office.
“The bus stopped at several fuelling stations to collect fuel, citing a pretext of fuel crisis. The stoppages made the journey longer than usual.”
Another passenger, Rafiqul Islam, who returned from Gosairhat of Shariatpur to the capital on Tuesday morning, said that he was charged more than the fixed rate.
He said, “I was charged Tk300 by Shariatpur Super Service Limited as I boarded a bus of the company from Shariatpur Bus Stand and stopped at Jatrabari. I was charged Tk50 more as the regular ticket price was Tk250.”
Khalilur Rahman, owner of Sakura Paribahan, which operates 60 buses in the southern region, said that transport owners are facing severe problems in maintaining the bus schedule.
He said, “The oil supply is not sufficient, but still we are trying to maintain the schedule. We are getting oil on a rationing basis. We get one quarter of the total need daily. Still we can maintain the schedule, but I don’t know how long we can do it.”
Talking to the Daily Sun, BRTA Director Meer Ahmed Tariqul Omar said, “We have 24 mobile courts in Dhaka, and we placed them in the important bus terminals and stoppages to punish the offenders who charge higher fares. Besides, every district administration employs two magistrates in their district to oversee the issue. We have found that people are mostly complaining less this time.”
When asked about why there is no digital facility to file complaint, he said, “We will develop a digital complaint platform so that they can file complaints regarding this kind of harassment.”
Mobile court fines Golden Line Tk20,000 for overcharging in Faridpur
A mobile court fined Golden Line Paribahan Tk20,000 for charging Tk700 instead of the fixed fare of Tk500 at Boalmari in Faridpur.
The drive was conducted on Tuesday at around 6pm in the old bus stand area of the upazila. The mobile court was led by Executive Magistrate and Assistant Commissioner (Land) Shibbir Ahmed.
According to mobile court sources, passengers had long been complaining that the transport operator was collecting fares higher than the fixed rate. Based on these complaints, the drive was conducted, and the allegations were proven true, leading to the fine.
Executive Magistrate Shibbir Ahmed said that evidence was found of charging Tk700 instead of Tk500 from Dhaka-bound passengers during the Eid return journey. He added that petrol pumps in the area were also warned against overcharging and illegal hoarding, and such drives will continue.