Dhaka is home to over 10 lakh rickshaws and it is the most used medium of transport for the people in Dhaka. However, lack of official instructions causes the fares to be self-determined, inconsistent and troubling to the city-dwellers.
Moreover, in the ongoing lockdown, rickshaws are the only public transportation that has been allowed to function. It is true that they face a drop in income during the time; however, it also opens an opportunity for them to exploit the ones desperately in need of transport.
According to regular travellers in the city, an average 1km rickshaw ride would amount to 20-30 taka. However, during this time, rickshaw pullers have been seen asking for 50-60 Tk for the same distance
“Rickshaw fares have almost doubled throughout the last decade and there is no control on this. In such a time of lockdown, we remain helpless”, said Mahbubur Rahman, a resident of the Jhigatola area of Dhaka.
During regular days, even with the availability of more transport mediums at the moment like ride sharing apps such as Uber, Pathao etc, rickshaws remain dominant on the streets of the capital.
According to reports, 4-5 lakh of the rickshaws active in the capital are not officially licensed and can be tagged as illegal. In such a case where almost half the rickshaws themselves are illegal and not dealt with by the authorities, bringing local fares under control seems to be a long shot.
Jatri Kalyan Samity secretary general Mozammel Hoque told Bangladesh Post that the city corporations have policies that could be adapted to determine and impose a fair fare system; however, it is not being prioritised.
“The city corporations can decide on a fare system for rickshaws in Dhaka but it is not considered an important issue. It is not difficult for them to execute this, however, it is not prioritised”, he said.
Former Secretary General of BILS (Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies), Nazrul Islam Khan told Bangladesh Post that it was formerly known that the city corporation holds the responsibility of determining the rickshaw fares.
“As far as we knew, fixing rates for the fares was the responsibility of the city corporation. However, in the time that we have worked, we have not come across any such decisions or actions from them throughout the years”
According to City Corporation authorities this issue has not been brought into light for a very long time. When the correspondent inquired about the last time when the fares have been determined, the information could not be provided.
Dhaka South City Corporation’s Chief Revenue Officer, Ariful Haque told Bangladesh Post that DSCC has not determined the local fares for rickshaw rides in the southern parts of the city.
“DSCC is not solely responsible for the decision of how much fare is to be charged from one locality to another. There are other bodies and conditions involved. However, I don’t believe rickshaw fares, similar to bus fares, are not officially determined”, he said.
Furthermore, Mohammad Abdul Hamid Miah, Dhaka North Corporation’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) told Bangladesh Post that no decision or official licensing have been done for rickshaws in the city since the 1980s.
He shared that the rickshaws are mostly not licensed let alone have officially instructed fares. Rickshaws have been increasing over the years but majority of those are not officially licensed.
Dhaka consists of many residential areas or housing societies that have a fixed number of rickshaws travelling within the perimeter following fares instructed to them.
On that note, the DNCC CRO said that there is nothing official about it and the policies are adapted by housing societies without any approval from authorities.
“They have made the rules by themselves. No housing society is eligible to license rickshaws but they are doing it unofficially”, he said.
During this pandemic hit period, finances of almost all of the population have experienced a blow. The middle class and marginally poor people have been significantly affected.
At the time of such financial crisis, every penny counts. People in the city keep count of all their daily spending and it eventually becomes difficult for the regular people to function with such inconsistent transport fares.