The ride-sharing services, including Uber and Pathao, will have to register with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) according to a new policy.
The cabinet approved the ‘Ride-Sharing Service Policy’ at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Monday.
Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam revealed the information at a press briefing at the Secretariat on Monday, after cabinet meeting.
Mobile app-based transportation service Uber began offering its operations in Dhaka on Nov 22, 2016 and gained in popularity. Motorcycle-based ride service SAM was operating in the capital before then and Pathao entered the market afterwards.
The BRTA first sent a closure letter to SAM and then to Uber, saying there were no laws in Bangladesh approving their operations. Representatives from the two companies met with the BRTA chairman on Nov 29.
According to bdnews24, the BRTA began preparing a draft of a mobile-app transportation service policy in February, 2017. The director of the BRTA Enforcement Division headed the committee on the policy draft. The draft was sent from the BRTA to the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry on Jun 21.
