More than one million people are driving vehicles on the country's roads without valid licences creating serious threat to the lives, property and causing a large amount of revenue loss to the government, data showed.
Also worrying is that the majority of these drivers are driving public transports and are aged mostly between 18 to 35 years.
Bangladesh Police's traffic department sources said on an average, five to six out of every 10 motorists fail to show valid driving licences when checked.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) data shows the number of driving licences issued by the authority across the country is almost half of the total registered vehicles.
According to the BRTA, a total of nearly 2.3 million vehicles have been registered with the office till the end of 2013. At the same time the authority issued only 1.43 million licences to the motorists.
However, officials at the traffic department expressed doubt over 'quality' of whatever original license they find.
They said many of the drivers, in connivance with a section of BRTA officials and brokers, obtain licences bypassing driving tests which can also be treated as fake.
"It is really worrying that in most cases we cannot find more than four original licences out of ten when checked," a traffic sergeant told the FE Monday preferring anonymity.
"If we become strict over this illegal practice then more than 70 per cent of public and private transports would be stuck in garages for want of drivers which might not be sustainable," he added.
However, the department is trying to bring down the illegal practice through organising mobile courts and regular and sudden drives, a high official at the traffic department informed.
The official also said that issuance of newly introduced machine readable driving licences would help bring down the number of fake ones.
Sources said, the dilly-dallying of BRTA and law enforcement agencies in issuing and checking of driving licences causes over Tk 400 million loss to the government against issuance of license and over Tk150 million as renewal fee every year.
BRTA charges Tk 400 for issuing of every new licence and Tk 150 as renewal fee every year.
The BRTA authority, however, expressed their hope saying the scenario will see a change soon as the office has introduced issuing smart card driving licences where an electronic chip has been embossed on which no middleman or brokers can do any unfair means.
"Issuance of fake licences in connivance with BRTA officials and others have almost halted after we have introduced 'smart card driving licence' at the end of 2011," BRTA director Sudhanshu Shekhar Biswas told the FE.
He said about half a million such driving licences have been issued within the last two years (years 2012 and 2013) which proves positive impact of the new system.
According to Bangladesh Police (Headquarter) data, 1,902 road accidents occurred across the country during January-November period of 2013 which led to the death of 1,838 people and critical injuries to 1,343.
"The scenario is more terrible as many of the accidents occurred in rural areas were not register with us," a high official at the police headquarter said.
The official cautioned that if the concerned authorities do not take immediate measures to bring the situation to a tolerable level, then the situation may go out of hand in the years ahead.
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