Bus fares not to be hiked now
Public transports will carry 50% passengers of their capacity from tomorrow and there will be no hike in bus fares.
Nur Mohammad Majumder, chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), made the disclosure after a meeting with stakeholders on Wednesday (12 January).
The cabinet division on Monday issued a notification directing the authorities to run buses with half od their capacity from 13 January to control the spread of Covid-19 infections.
Soon after the directives were announced, the bus owners started putting pressure on the government to increase the fare.
To resolve the matter, the BRTA held a meeting with the concerned stakeholders this afternoon. At the meeting, it was decided that the buses will operate at half capacity without increasing the fare.
However, the transport owners put forward a demand to carry passengers at full capacity.
Until their demand is met, they will operate buses at half capacity with existing fare.
Representatives of various organisations including Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association and Bangladesh Road Transport Workers Federation were present at the meeting.