The road maintenance authority has finalised a draft guideline of the 'road fund' with a provision of paying charge for fuel use.
Fuel charge is one of the options mooted to increase funds for maintenance of the national road network.
Officials said the board of the Road Maintenance Fund (RMF) approved the draft at its October meeting.
Road Transport Highways Division secretary Nazrul Islam presided over the meeting.
The final draft will soon be sent to law ministry for vetting, the officials stated.
"All formalities are done. It's now at road transport and bridges ministry for last-minute review before sending it to law ministry," said an RMF official.
He said the fuel charge option in the guideline has been proposed because it is in use in the neighbouring nation and others in South Asia.
Sources said the RMF proposed to introduce a minimum fuel charge of Tk 1.0 per litre fuel or cubit metre gas to fund annual road and highway maintenance work.
Before finalising the draft, the RMF shared it with all ministries and agencies concerned for comments.
The fund was set up as per the Road Maintenance Fund Board Act which was passed in parliament on July 14, 2013, for creating a special fund.
In addition to the budgetary allocation, the RMF will be used to maintain, repair and renovate the road network under Roads and Highways Department (RHD).
Although the fund was made effective in December 2013 through a gazette, it still remains inoperative for lack of a guideline.
According to officials, the RMF is likely to create a fund of approximately Tk 20 billion a year from its 20 proposed sources.
The sources include road tax, motor vehicle tax, motor fitness fee, route permit, registration and licence fees, road cutting and utility fees and road penalties.
The RHD and the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) receive the money in the form of non-tax revenues.
The RHD's Highway Development and Management Division in its latest study estimated Tk 290 billion until 2020 for overall maintenance work of more than 21,000-kilometre road network.
Around 40 per cent of the road network is now in a poor state, the study said.
In fiscal year 2017-18, the RHD sought 75 per cent higher allocation in the revised budget to manage the roads damaged by flash floods.
But Tk 18.04 billion was earmarked for the RHD.
