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Call for stopping passenger harassment and excessive fare collection

Road Transport and Bridge Ministry has announced to increase 10 paisa per kilometer fare in Dhaka and Chittagong City and in the area of Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority. The fare for per kilometer is now 1.70 taka and 1.60 taka respectively for bus and minibus. The new fare has been activated from 1 October 2015 in Dhaka and from 5th October 2015 in Chittagong. But the transportation authority is collecting more than the determined ones and this is creating chaos between passengers and transport authority and has lead to death too. In demand to stop passenger harassment and excessive fare collection Poribesh Bachao Andolon (POBA), Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust, Nagorik Odhikar Shongrokkhon Forum (NASAF), Martial Art Foundation, Ainer Pathshala, Poribesh Unnoyon Society, Pallima Green and BCHRD jointly organized a human chain at National Press club on 21st October 2015 11 am.  

Speakers said that, there is no chart of determined bus fare. People are being forced to pay 500 to 1500 taka per month which is increasing their living cost. Passengers are provided with no facilities. They do not maintain bus stops to board passengers. Moreover they tend to not follow the traffic rules. One driver and his assistant were fined 5000 taka, because of collecting excessive fare. They called for a strike and it resulted to severe traffic jam. This put the passengers in to suffering.

There are 250 passenger shed in Dhaka city. But those are now being used as place of business and in some places they have been converted into places of various crimes.

Engineer Md Absus Sobhan said that, laws regarding public transport are very weak. And there is no initiative to implement these laws. And if there is any step to implement any law, then the transport authority calls for strike and puts people in suffering. Government should take initiative to bring them in negotiation table and come to an ultimate decision. Otherwise this sector will fall at risk and bring economical loss.

Hafizur Rahman Moyna, Chairman, NASAF chaired the program. Other Speakers were Maruf Hossain, Program Manager, WBB Trust; Anisul Hossian Tareq, Secretariat Member, Pallima Green; Advocate Subrata Das Khokon, Chairman, Ainer Pathshala; Atiq Morshed, Coordinator, POBA; Naima, Secretariat Member, Martial Art Foundation;  Borhan Uddin Ahmed, Chairman, Poribesh Unnoyon Society; Nazim Uddin, Chairman, Puran Dhaka Unnoyon Society; Kamelia Chowdhury and many more.