People begin to pay through their nose as bus operators are allegedly ripping off fares beyond the latest government-set rates following oil-price hike while CNG-run vehicles also charging higher though gas prices are not raised.
Firsthand reports say heated exchange of words between passengers and transporters led to scuffles in some cases, as the revised fare rates took effect Monday.
Some stakeholders, analysts, and passenger-and consumer-rights groups as well as street protesters made a strong plea for cancelling the revised transport fares and reconsidering oil-price hike, as living is getting costlier yet with further price rises under cascading impacts of the raise in fuel prices and consequent fare hike.
"A clear violation of the official fare rates led to altercation between passengers and transport
workers on each bus throughout the day. In some cases, the heated exchange of words resulted in incidents of fisticuffs," says a firsthand account in an FE report.
After a meeting with the bus operators following a 23-per cent increase in diesel price, the government raised the fares up to 27 per cent to end a nationwide transport strike the transporters had enforced in a brusque reaction.
But the reality is different as the FE correspondents found many of the city bus companies having increased the fare by up to 60 per cent, thumping the government-fixed rates.
Even CNG-run buses were found taking higher fares from the passengers like the diesel-run ones although the government increased rates only for diesel-driven buses.
Rana, a passenger, said he travelled to Postogola from Rampura in the morning by Raida Paribahan. "I normally paid Tk 25 for the distance before the hike. Today they (transport workers) charged Tk 40 from me. It's an over 60- per cent hike," he said.
He said the travel distance should be maximum 10 kilometres and the government revised the fare to Tk 2.15 per kilometre. With the new rate, the fare will be Tk 22 but the operators had charged higher than the new rate even before the latest revision.
"But, nobody from the government agencies concerned monitored it--and we are paying the costs," he rued.
Zakir Hossain, who travels from Mohammadpur to Gulistan by Rojonigandha Paribahan, told the FE that the bus operator increased the fare to Tk 30 from Tk 20.
"The government made 27 per cent hike but we are paying 50 per cent. Is it logical? Who monitors it? The transport owners demanded fare hike and the government accepted it, making common people victim of the bargain," he said on a note of frustration.
The FE correspondents found a middle-aged person in altercation with the conductor of a bus of Victor Classic at Purana Paltan intersection.
The person, who identified himself as Sirajul Islam, said the bus conductor charged him Tk 25 for travel from Malibagh Cowdhurypara instead of Tk 20 citing the diesel-price hike.
"Once I got down from the bus, I saw a pair of CNG cylinders under the bus. Then, how the bus takes additional fare," he said, indicating dual-fuel use by buses.
When the correspondent asked the bus conductor about the matter, he claimed it as a diesel-driven bus--and hurriedly left the spot.
When contacted, Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division Nazrul Islam said they were preparing an official fare chart that will be posted at bus stations and inside the buses to remove the fare-related confusion.
"We'll hang it soon. Once it is public, people will be able to know the actual fare and pay it," he said.
Meanwhile, launch passengers have also expressed their utter frustrations over increased travel fares on the day, terming 'irrational' the 'uneven fare hike' of launch services.
The passengers, mainly who are used to travelling on launch dock, said that they had nothing to do with fare hike and they have to travel by increased fare if they want to travel to their respective destinations.
They said had the government increased only Tk 5.00 in per- litre diesel price, it would have not affected the limited- income group of people.
They said that income of many of them (mostly private service-holders and small traders) was not increased rationally due to the Covid-19 pandemic against the price hike of essential commodities, including launch fares.
"We are ordinary citizens. We have no way but to bear the brunt of launch-fare hike," Md Asmal Sikder, a Barishal-bound passenger of Sundarban launch service, told the FE in the afternoon.
He said that despite launch-fare hike, he had to travel to his village home for his family affairs.
The distance between Dhaka and Barishal is 161 kilometres and the dock-class launch fare on the route has been increased to Tk 352 from the previous rate of Tk 255.
The present dock-class fare on Dhaka-Patuakhali route is Tk 383 which was Tk 252 for 252-kilometre journey on the route.
The distance between Dhaka and Barguna is 278 kilometres and journey on the route for a dock class now costs Tk 586 instead of previously charged Tk 419.
The Dhaka-Bhola distance is 195 kilometres and journey on the route for a dock class now costs Tk 420 from earlier fare of Tk 303.
The distance between Dhaka and Chandpur is 68 kilometres. The dock-class fare of the route has been fixed at Tk 154 from previous Tk 116, according to the fare charts provided by the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority or BIWTA.
Joint Director of BIWTA, Sadarghat launch terminal, Md Joynal Adedin told the FE that the launches on different routes were operating as usual with increased fares.
Earlier, the government increased per-litre diesel and kerosene price by Tk 15 respectively.
The 35 per cent hike in the launch fares was made at a marathon meeting between the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority or BIWTA and the striking launch owners on Sunday evening.
The fare for each kilometre has been fixed at Tk 2.30 instead of Tk 1.70 for the first 100 kilometres' journey while Tk 2.00 instead of Tk 1.40 for distance beyond the first 100 kilometres.
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