Under a contract signed with the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) on September 24, the operators will also look after the management of these terminals for three years.

Of the two operators, Rora Enterprises Ltd will be responsible for the management of Sayedabad and Mohakhali terminals while Diba Enterprise for Gabtoli.

According to the contract, the DCC will receive Tk 1.42 crore from Sayedabad, Tk 46.38 lakh from Mohakhali and Tk 1.36 crore from Gabtoli terminals per year.

Previously, the DCC earned yearly Tk 3.50 crore from the three terminals and spent Tk 1.50 crore for maintenance.

The national committee to stop extortion from the transport sector at a meeting headed by Communications Minister Nazmul Huda on Monday approved the DCC's decision to allow the private operators to collect toll.

Earlier, the ten- member committee, formed on August 11, imposed a ban on toll collection from inter-district passenger buses at the terminals to restore discipline in transport sector.

Monir Hossain, a driver at Gabtoli, told this correspondent yesterday that, "Since the imposition of the ban, we did not pay any toll. But now we have come to know that we are to pay a toll of Tk30 for each bus from today."

Same views were expressed to the correspondent during his visit to Sayedabad and Mohakhali terminals.

To upgrade three bus terminals, Roads and Highways Department and a Bangladesh-China joint venture construction firm signed a Tk 44.20 crore contract on September10 under Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP).

The World Bank is providing the fund.

Work on the project is expected to start from this month and will be completed in nine months, according to Dhaka Urban Transport Coordination Board officials.