The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Chittagong has called on the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and BRTA to withdraw the doubled bus fare and bring it back to its former position in corona virus.
CAB Central Committee Vice President SM Nazer Hossain, CAB Chittagong Divisional General Secretary Kazi Iqbal Bahar Chaberi, CAB Metropolitan President Jasmine Sultana Paru, General Secretary Ajay Mitra Shanku, Joint Secretary Touhidul Islam and CAB Chittagong South District President Alhaj Abdul Mannan made the demand in a statement sent to media.
In a statement, the CAB leaders said that because the bus owners and workers never collect the fare at the rate fixed by the government. They take the passengers hostage and collect double or triple the fare.
There, law enforcement and BRTA have not been able to take any effective action against them till date. This scene becomes more evident in Eid-Puja. Lack of income and jobless people are already financially and mentally distressed due to the long period of lockdown. This needs to be stopped immediately.
In the statement, the leaders further said that according to media sources, buses and minibuses plying on every route in the capital Dhaka and Chittagong city pay an average of Tk 1,200 to Tk 2,000 daily. Even during the corona epidemic, this collection did not stop. The government can provide affordable fuel for public transport if needed.
In statement, the leaders said there was no precedent for public transport to increase fares in any crisis or excuse, but to reduce fares in normal times.
Unemployed people are in dire financial straits due to long vacations in the history of the country. Therefore, the income and employment of the owners and workers can be normalized by introducing public transport services by collecting the existing fares of the public transports in compliance with the health rules.