Jatri Kalyan Samity amends info on public transports charging extra fare

Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity (JKS) has issued an amendment mentioning that public transport owners and staffers in Dhaka are charging passengers an additional Tk3.50 crore on some 50 lakh trips on average every day instead of the previous figures.

In the amended press release issued Sunday (18 September), the organisation said the report it released on 13 September mistakenly mentioned that the commuters are being forced to pay Tk182.42 crore on some 3.5 crore trips every day in all modes of public transports.

"The report had stated that some 5,000 buses and minibuses run 50 lakh trips every day. A passenger is being charged up to Tk17 extra fare on average. Whereas, the organisation found the scenario of charging average Tk7 extra fare from a commuter in a day," said the media release.

It said Jatri Kalyan Samiti has been a vocal and protesting organisation against road safety, sexual harassment in public transport, fare anarchy, unfair and unacceptable activities and has been publishing reports on these issues with great responsibility for last two decades. 

"Although various calculations are correct in this year's report, the Jatri Kalyan Samity expresses sincere regret for the unintentional mistake in the calculation only in the bus sector," it added.

The organisation also expressed firm commitment to publish reports with utmost caution in future.