PM to rethink imposing 15% VAT on metro rail fares: Quader
“This is a wrong decision by the NBR. It cannot happen. It will spoil the goodwill of the metro rail,” said Quader, also the general secretary of the ruling Awami League.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has assured that the imposition of a 15% value-added tax (VAT) on the metro rail service will be reconsidered, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said.
"I have communicated the matter to the prime minister. She has assured me that it will be reconsidered," Quader said during the "Branding Seminar on Dhaka Metro Rail" held at a city hotel today (19 May).
At the programme organised by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), he said the announcement of a 15% VAT by the National Board of Revenue is a wrong decision.
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"The NBR has suddenly announced a 15% VAT on popular transport tickets. This decision is wrong. By this, the reputation of the metro rail will be ruined," he added.
DMTCL Managing Director MAN Siddique said if VAT is imposed starting 1 July, it will drive up the fare, and passengers will have to foot the bill.
The NBR had provided a VAT exemption on metro rail ticket prices last year, considering the service was not fully operational, and the exemption is due to continue until June this year.
Stating that the pillars of the metro rail became full of posters, untidy, and dirty, he requested everyone to maintain the beauty of the metro rail.
The managing director also said, as per the target, all six MRT lines will be completed by 2030.
Meanwhile, Obaidul Quader also expressed extreme anger and disappointment over the rundown buses in the city.
"The buses that run in this city are so dilapidated. We feel so bad to see such buses operate. What does it look like to get down from such a modern metro rail and see buses in such poor, dilapidated condition? Are our owners not ashamed? Don't they go abroad and see?"
He also called upon the two mayors of Dhaka North and South city corporations to take action against those shabby buses operating in the capital.
Obaidul Quader vented his anger at the selection of guests invited to the branding seminar, saying, "Those who are sitting in front of me are mostly officials of our ministry. But those who are the target of the branding are not available here."
"Three lakh passengers are coming and going to Motijheel from Uttara every day. Some of them should have been here," he added.
