Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association has decided not to ply buses in Dhaka on contractual system from today (Thursday).
The decision was taken aiming to prevent the competing tendency of drivers of city buses and to curb road accidents.
Khandaker Enayet Ullah, general secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, announced the decision at a press briefing at Motijheel BRTC building in Dhaka on Wednesday.
According to the decision, only appointed persons will be allowed to drive city buses from Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
The association will expel a member and recommend cancellation of his or her registration if they operate buses on contracts, Enayet Ullah said.
Until now, the transport workers – drivers or conductors – have to give the owners fixed amounts at the end of the day or shift, leading to frantic races to get more passengers.
According to local news agencies, experts believe that contractual bus drivers are forced to drive buses in rush and carelessly as they have to deposit a certain amount of money and earn more money for themselves.
So, they often compete with each other on roads to take more passengers from bus stops.
Once the new decision is effective, the workers will receive wages from the owners, which is expected to keep the workers away from the speeding that often cause accidents.