Professional drivers of motorised vehicles were allegedly facing even more harassment than before and being forced to get middleman services while undergoing dope test, a prerequisite for obtaining a licence or its renewal.
Applicants alleged that they have to go to the office of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) at least six times to get these services for introducing the complicated procedures.
They have to seek dope tests from the BRTA-designated offices and medical centres as the BRTA has made it mandatory since January 30 last.
The applicants, however, reported that only one dope test centre at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), out of five designated ones, was now operating.
Four other designated centres are: Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre. These centres are yet to start the dope test.
They have also alleged that the BRTA introduced different tiers to get the dope test form, and the filled up form signed and stamped by two concerned officials will have to be submitted to the lone centre located far from the BRTA office.
"It's a very annoying process for us," said Mohammad Fazlur Hoque, driver of a private car. "Not only the private car drivers, the drivers of public transports like buses and trucks also have to spend at least six days, including four days for dope test, to get the licence."
He shared his experience with the FE on the second day of his starting the process to get an application form for dope test from the BRTA's Mirpur office.
Like Fazlu, more than 250 drivers have not been provided with the form with signs and stamps of the officials - Assistant Director and Accountant - following their attendance in the class and driving test.
Instead, they have been asked to come another day to the BRTA office and visit the specific desk for the form and move to the officials for their signs and stamps.
But Fazlur missed the day of form submission to the NIMH located at Shyamoli as he could not reach there within the stipulated time at 1.0 pm.
Sadeque, another driver of a private car, said that though he had to pay Tk 950 for the dope test while submitting the form to the hospital, a middleman demanded at least Tk 1,000 in extra for sending a SMS faster.
"We cannot even do the dope test on the same day of submitting the form to the health centre. We'll have to come as per the date to be sent through the SMS and then have to come on another day for collection of the test report," he said, sharing the harassment he had to face.
If he misses submitting the test report to the BRTA office on the same day, he would require another day to start the process of issuing the driving licence.
According to the BRTA procedure, to get a new licence or renewal of a licence, the professional drivers have to pay Tk 1,873 for the driving test and training, and Tk 173 for an interview on the same day. They also have to pay TK 950 for the dope test.
The government has made dope tests mandatory as part of a move to ensure road safety amid allegations that most of the public transport drivers including buses and trucks drive recklessly and lose control over the steering due to influence of drugs.
In 2020, the Prime Minister had also directed the authorities concerned to take the dope test.
BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mozumder admitted that they have received the complaints about the procedure of dope test and said the BRTA will soon hold a meeting to resolve the problem.
