App-based ride-hailing services have become costlier for city commuters due to its growing demand mainly during rush hours.
Many of the users said they have been experiencing a random fare hike in such app-based transport services for a couple of months.
However, market leaders in the app-based ridesharing sector, especially Uber and Pathao, mention in their apps that the fare rates might slightly vary due to growing demand.
But a good number of users expressed disagreement over the issue, terming the recent fare rates of these services remotely close to 'slight increase'.
Mahmud Islam, a private sector service-holder who travels between Mirpur and National Press Club using Uber X time to time, saw an unusual fare hike.
He said, "I have travelled many times the same distance that cost around Tk 320 to Tk 350 in general."
"But few days ago, I had to pay around Tk 650 for travelling the same distance although the Uber driver followed the same route as before and traffic situation was pretty normal," he added.
Due to nagging traffic congestion in the capital city, private car and motorbike sharing through smartphone applications becomes very popular for city dwellers.
Such ridesharing service was a relief for office-goers who have long been suffering a lot for finding CNG-run auto-rickshaws during rush hours.
Sazal Das, a university student who uses bike-sharing app like Pathao on a regular basis, said usually, it cost Tk 70 to Tk 80 to go the Banani campus of Southeast University from Rampura Bridge.
Due to promotional offers, the fare sometimes came down to Tk 30 to Tk 50 considering the rates of discount, he said. "But now promotional offers are on the decrease while usual fare soared by Tk 15 to Tk 20," he added.
Commenting on its fare policy, a spokesperson of Uber said, "Uber's fares are dynamically priced. This means that the fare a rider sees is based on variables subject to change over time."
"These variables include (but are not limited to) estimated time and distance of the predicted route, estimated traffic, and the number of riders and drivers using Uber at a given moment," the spokesperson said in responding to an email sent by the FE correspondent.
In response to a query about unusual fare fluctuation, the Uber official said dynamic pricing may cause fares to temporarily increase.
When fares are higher due to dynamic pricing, riders in cities with upfront fare pricing see the actual fare before they request a ride.
Besides, in cities where upfront fares are not available, riders are notified by their apps that fares are currently higher.
The Uber spokesperson also said, "In case of isolated incidents like this, of the fare being unreasonable, we would like to urge riders to use the in app support options to report such situation."
"This will help us look into the matter and take appropriate action as we are committed to offer riders a hassle-free transportation option in the city and create livelihood opportunities for driver partners in Dhaka," the email reads.
US ride-sharing giant Uber Inc. started operation in Bangladesh at the end of 2016. The company offers four services for Dhaka residents -- Uber X, Uber Premier and UberHIRE for four-wheelers and UberMOTO for two-wheelers.
Following Uber's footmark, more than 15 companies are in service currently to get a share in the rapidly growing online-based service sector.
Apart from Uber and Pathao, several other ridesharing services including O Bhai, Sohoz.com, MUV Asia, Chalo and Dako are also available in the city.
Sources at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) said Uber has more than 20,000 vehicles (bikes and cars), followed by Pathao (10,000), O Bhai (3,000) and Sohoz.com (1,000).
However, the government has slapped a 5.0 per cent value-added tax (VAT) on app-based ridesharing services.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) in this connection on June 07, 2018.
ahb_mcj2009@yahoo.com