The new fare for CNG-driven auto-rickshaws that took effect from today is unlikely to lessen the commuters' suffering with three-wheeler in the city.

Despite BRTA assurance that there will be strict enforcement so the autorickshaws stick to the fixed fare, it rings hollow on the road.

A corrupt system forces auto rickshaw owners to pay three times more than the actual price to get a new CNG-driven three-wheeler on the roads and the extra cost is passed on to the passengers, CNG owners and drivers say.

Owners' ignorance of the government fixed fare rules and regulations in the CNG transport sector and harassment by law enforcers also costs passengers extra, several CNG drivers and passengers told The Daily Star.

Drivers of the CNG-run three-wheeler still demand more than the government fixed rate. Star file photo

"The owners accept all the rules and regulations recommended by the government when thy sit with the authorities but forget everything when we reach their doors to run the three-wheeler," the drivers said.  

"The actual cost of getting a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the road should be around Tk 5 lakh, but we have to spend more than Tk 13 lakh," said ATM Nazmul Hasan, general secretary of the CNG-run three-wheeler owners' association. "That too, with old license numbers."

The authorities are just now replacing the old numbers instead of issuing new one in the Dhaka Metropolitan area, he said.

"If we want to run the business we have to pay all bank and mortgage backlogs of the old numbers which is the main reason of increasing price of the CNG-run three-wheeler," he added.

A powerful group in the concerned ministry and BRTA officials is eating away most of the money as bribe in the name of replacing licenses and road permission of the three-wheeler, he alleged.

 "What will we do? We have to recoup the cost."

He said the owners have assured the government of sticking to the revised fare chart and follow rules to reduce commuters' sufferings.

Thirteen thousand more CNG auto-rickshaws are needed on the streets to meet the demand in the city, says Hasan.

Though the new rate, fixed by the government, is Tk 900, CNG driver says most of the owners started charging more from October.

"The owners charge us Tk 1,200 as daily rent" said a driver in Tejgaon area wishing anonymity, "They also do not save us from harassment, we also bear the cost of repair."

"Police harass us in the name of verifying our driving licences and road permission and fitness certificate of our vehicle but the CNG-run three-wheeler owners do not save us from the harassment. We also do repair minor parts of the three-wheeler to works from our own pockets," he said.

Golam Faruk, general secretary of CNG-run Auto-Rickshaw and Mishuk Paribahan Sramik Union, blamed the authorities for lax monitoring in the CNG-run three-wheeler transport sector and added there is a shortage of vehicles in Dhaka.

Around 12,815 regular and 5,000 private CNG-run auto-rickshaws run in Dhaka, but the demand in this city is higher, he said. "The government is not issuing new licenses."

"The owners are never punished for the unfit vehicles or overcharging the drivers," he alleged. "The drivers are also being fined everywhere every day in the name of violating traffic rules and metre rate."

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) Director (enforcement) Bijoy Bhushan Pal said he knows about the problems with the CNG-run auto-rickshaws.

There will be stricter supervision from today, he said. Five mobile courts will be patrolling the city to see that the drivers do not overcharge.

When asked about problems in getting permission for the CNG auto-rickshaw, the BRTA official said, "No illegal transaction to procure a CNG-run three-wheeler is being done in front of me and there is nothing to monitor after all."  

"No CNG-run three-wheeler without a fare metre will be allowed on the streets from November 1, he added.

Although the new fare of CNG-run auto-rickshaws came into effect in Dhaka city from today (Sunday), many three-wheelers have been staying off the streets, causing immense sufferings to the commuters.