Joint mobile courts in operation, but commuters still being overcharged

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and transport associations' members today started conducting mobile courts jointly to stop bus operators from charging extra fares from passengers.

The BRTA has also been conducting its own mobile courts since Monday.

But all these efforts appeared futile on Thursday as buses were seen charging passengers more than the newly-fixed fares. CNG-run busses are also charging the revised fares.

Paying no heed to the mobile court's warning against charging extra fares on Wednesday, seating service buses allegedly continued taking higher fares from commuters today. 

These include Poristhan Paribahan, Abhijat Transport, Rajshani Paribahan, Projapoti Paribahan, Asish Paribahan, Noor-e-Makkah, Labbayik, MM Lovely, Shadhin Paribahan.

However, bus conductors complained that some passengers are paying less than the fare fixed by the government.

Helper of a bus named "Safety" said the fare from Mirpur 12 to Dhakeshwari Mandir is Tk32, but people are paying Tk30. Md Mamun, a helper of "Mirpur Link" bus, made the same complaint.

When asked about the number of CNG-run busses, helpers said there are 50 busses of "Mirpur Link" and "Safety" on the route and only four of them are CNG-run.

"We are not operating those four busses. The owners are contemplating reverting those back to diesel because CNG-run busses break down more frequently", said Supervisor Ali Ahmed.

CNG-run busses, which are charging more than the government's fixed fares, include Shikhor Paribahan on the Jatrabari-Mirpur route.

Also, the government has made it mandatory to display a fare chart on public transport, but no such chart was found on "Bikolpo Paribahan" buses. They were even charging higher than the fixed fares.