Several unauthorised ride-sharing operators are carrying on their services in Bangladesh flouting law and disrespecting the restrictions the government has imposed to curb transmission of coronavirus.
Two such unauthorised operators – Jatri and Jabo – are offering service amid the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic ignoring social distancing and thus risking the spread of the deadly disease.
Md Azizul Haque, a ride sharer who recently used Jatri service on several occasions, said the drivers maintain no health precautions while offering the services.
Statistics of the transport sector regulator – Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) – suggest the two operators have not secured any enlistment licence to run ride-hailing business.
The companies which have so far taken BRTC certificates are Pick Me Ltd, Computer Network System Limited, Obhai Solutions Ltd, Chaldal Limited, Pathao Limited, Easier Technologies Ltd, Akash Technologies Ltd, Sejesto Ltd, Shohoz Ltd, Uber Bangladesh Ltd, Buddy Ltd and Akij Online Limited.
Most of the authorised operators are yet to commence their operation while the entities which launched their services have suspended them after the government imposed the restriction for checking the transmission of coronavirus.
Sources said Jatri entered the market in 2019 without proper permission from BRTA and claimed to be a bus tracking app. But the company itself has contradicted its claimed mission by developing into ride-sharing and e-commerce operator.
When asked Zayan Fida Noor, Jatri’s head of marketing, said they are not operating ride-sharing with bikes, they are only running bus services and claimed that they have BRTA licence for the service.
But when his attention was drawn to BRTA version that Jatri has not taken any licence yet, he said senior management look after the matter and they know it better.
Contacted, Jatri CEO Arman Aziz refused to talk on the matter over phone.
The government suspended the movement of all public transports, including app-based ridesharing services, since March 26 to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Later it allowed limited-scale operation of public transports but kept the ban on ride-share service in force.
Officials said the fact that maintaining social distancing while using ride-sharing on bikes is not possible has prompted the government to maintain the restrictions on the ride-sharing service.