According to the Bangladesh Travelers Welfare Association, around 16 million individuals from Dhaka and nearby areas will journey to various parts of the country during the Eid ul Fitr holidays. During this period, travelers had to pay around Tk984 crore in additional transportation expenses, according to a statement released on Sunday by the passenger welfare group. The sub-committee members of the organization monitored the issue of 'extra fare' in public transportation on various routes including road, rail, sea, and air from April 3 to April 6 and reported their findings. Based on the observation, some dishonest bus owners who also drive have started to break the rules by charging more money for tickets without following the proper procedures. Approximately 6 million individuals are expected to journey by boat during the holiday of Eid. Passengers are being charged an additional fee ranging from 50 taka to 800 taka based on their category. It was stated that a total of Tk 120 crore extra fare will be gathered from these passengers before Eid if each passenger is charged an average amount of Tk 200.
The auto-rickshaws powered by CNG in the city are also asking for higher fares before Eid. Each traveler must give an additional charge of Tk 200 per journey on average when using these auto-rickshaws for daily tasks. Approximately 7 million passengers taking trips in 25,000 CNG-powered autorickshaws in the city before Eid will need to pay an extra amount of over Tk140 crore. Approximately 3 million passengers traveling from Dhaka on long-distance routes are required to pay an additional fee averaging Tk 300 per passenger. As a result, bus riders will be required to pay an extra fee of 90 million taka. Additionally, additional fees are imposed on flights leading up to Eid. Sometimes, triple the extra fee is being applied. As per Jatri Kalyan Samity, travelers will need to pay an extra amount of Tk 35 lakh if they pay an average of Tk 3500 more per passenger on local routes prior to Eid. The statement mentioned that 140 crore passengers will journey through various river ports such as Sadarghat and Narayanganj River Port during Eid. At Tk 10 per person, the people of Ghat leaseholders, along with corrupt BIWTA officials, will steal an extra Tk 140 crore.
This is the situation in Dhaka and the neighboring regions. This figure might rise three or four times if the entire nation is taken into account."
"Low-income people are suffering and commodity prices, extortion, social unrest, irregularities-corruption, and traffic accidents are rising due to such rent anarchy."According to Jatri Kalyan Samity, implementing an intelligent fare collection mechanism in public transportation is essential to resolving this kind of problem. She also highlighted the significance of maintaining sound legal governance.
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