Ride-sharing service has emerged as a welcome relief for hundreds of youths who now dream of living better with income opportunities.
Students to part-time or even permanent employees are taking to the sector to become solvent enough to meet the high cost of living in the capital.
According to riders and beneficiaries, there are prospects of decent earnings in the recently emerged app-based services like Uber and Pathao.
Those living in the city aside, many commercial bikers in the country are now moving to Dhaka for financial gains, the FE found after a long market watch.
As a result, the service has grown substantially in the shortest period of time and it is on the up and up.
Even many firms are out to lure women into riding bikes, targeting the female segment of the society.
Stakeholders have identified factors like availability of transport, reaching destination in time, decent earnings and hassle-free service behind this rapid growth of the sector.
US ride-sharing giant Uber Inc. entered Bangladesh in 2016. However, things have changed in the local market over the years.
More than 15 companies are in service to get a share in the rapidly growing online-based service sector.
In terms of market share, Uber tops the position followed by Pathao, O Bhai, Sohoz.com and Golden Reign.
The operators, however, denied disclosing the number of their registered vehicles for the sake of market strategy.
Sources at BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority) said Uber has more than 20,000 vehicles (bikes and cars), followed by Pathao (10,000), O Bhai (3,000), Sohoz.com (1,000) and Golden Reign (1,000).
Pathao dominates the market having the highest number of motorbikes.
According to the operators, they make around 0.3 million trips in Dhaka city daily.
The riders, who share 20 per cent of the fare with the companies, said their monthly income depends on the category of the riders.
A part-timer can earn Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 a month and a full-timer Tk 40,000 to Tk 60,000.
Md Biplob Ahmed, a rider who works for both Uber and Pathao, was a car driver of local business group where he had to work from 9:00am to 10:00pm at Tk 18,000.
"It was really difficult to survive with the limited salary in this costly city. Ride-sharing service created an opportunity for people like us," he said.
"Now I can easily earn Tk 40,000 a month," Mr Ahmed told the FE.
Seeking anonymity, a rider said he works in the ERD (Economic Relations Division) under finance ministry and also works for a ride-sharing firm.
"I can pay house rent and meet other necessities with the part-time earnings and save the government salary. Many public servants having bike do it," he added.
The story was almost the same for Suman Hossain, who left private jobs in Uttara and joined in the ride-sharing service for a better living.
"Earnings aside, the plus of the service is freedom. If I feel I've earned enough for the day, I can stop… I can give enough time to my family," he added.
Contacted via email, an Uber spokesperson said Bangladesh was one of the fastest-growing markets at launch in the region.
The company continues to receive overwhelming response from riders and recipients, he mentioned.
The official said Uber has rolled out four services for Dhaka's residents -- Uber X, Uber Premier and UberHIRE for four-wheelers and UberMOTO for two-wheelers.
For Chattogram, there are three services -- Uber X, UberHIRE and UberMOTO, he stated.
About safety, he said Uber also launched a first-of-its-kind insurance policy for riders and service seekers for a secure feeling during trip.
Spurred by its growth, the company recently launched intercity rides between Dhaka and Gazipur.
Sources at Pathao said they initially started the service manually with positioning their riders at the city's various spots to analyse the market potential.
After getting a good response, the company started the business in a structured way, they added.
They further said that some 250 taxicabs of Toma Group recently tied up with Pathao to deliver the service.
Witnessing an exponential growth of the new service, the government formulated a ride-sharing policy this March to bring it under a legal framework.
Under the policy, a company needs to be registered with the state-owned regulatory body BRTA.
Ten companies like Pathao, Uber, Golden Reign, Sohoz.com, Chal Dal, O Bhai, Easy R and Akash Technology have so far applied for registration.
BRTA director (engineering) Nurul Islam said they have been visiting the companies to oversee their existing services in line with the policy.
"The companies are educating riders about their rules and apps. We're asking them (companies) to train riders about traffic rules and road safety," he added.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com