‘95% passengers suffer during Ramadan in Dhaka’

About 95 per cent commuters suffer while 98 per cent of the passengers is the victim of extra fare in public transport during Ramadan in Dhaka city.

Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity today, in a press statement, unveiled the findings. It said they prepared the report after conducting a survey on passengers at 15 different places in the capital recently.

According to the facts, around 90 per cent people have expressed dissatisfaction on overall management in the public transport sector.

Besides, 68 per cent passengers are forced to get into and get down from running bus, the passenger welfare platform said in its report.

After being harassed in the public transport, around 93 per cent passengers do not know where they can lodge their complaint while around 90 per cent passengers think that there will be no result by lodging complaint and thus, they do not do so.

The JKS teams, while carrying out the survey, did not see any efforts of the respective authorities to solve the passengers’ sufferings.

As a result, passengers, waiting at different stoppages at the middle of the routes, fell victims of this anarchy, it said.

The association alleged that the bus operators targeted the passengers who were in a hurry to reach home before iftar and collect extra money from them. The buses also charge extra from the passengers defying government-fixed fare rate.

Only a handful company and Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) run buses as usual ways and follow government-fixed fare chart.

The organisation said almost all the CNG-run auto-rickshaws are running under the contract system and take three to four time higher than the actual fare.

Besides, 93 per cent CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers do not want to go to passengers’ desired destinations.

The report says motorcyclists - running under the ridesharing services – provide their services under the contract system after 4:00pm and charge three to four time higher than the actual fare.