Bus fare anarchy should come to an end

For commuters in Dhaka city, bus fare is a highly contentious issue as bus operators hike and charge fares arbitrarily. This becomes a matter of argument if you belong to a limited-income group or you are a student. When you get on board a bus, in most cases the bus conductor refers to it as direct or seating service. In reality, it is just opposite to what is claimed. Passengers are picked up and dropped randomly at the most unlikely spots. And sometimes so many passengers are picked up that it is difficult to get down from the backside.

While the government has increased bus fare with the rise in fuel oil prices, we are witnessing increases in fare far higher than what has been decided by the authorities. For example, a trip from the capital city's Natun Bazar to Gabtoli has been fixed Tk 35 per person but if you get down at Agargaon Radio Bhavan from North Badda you have to pay the same fare. It should not cost you more than Tk 20. The bus operators are, however, charging an additional amount of Tk 15.

The students, who have to take bus rides almost every day, are often deprived of their 'half-pass' facilities. Several incidents of misbehaviour meted out to students have already taken place, when they tried to pay half bus fare. On holidays, transport workers become more desperate to extract full fare from students. I do not know who is actually responsible for such an anarchic situation. Whoever it is, I am drawing the attention of the authorities concerned to think about this issue and do the needful.

Rasmohan Halder,

Uttor Badda, Dhaka,

rasmohon2017@gmail.com