Oligarchy ruling mini shops in city bus terminals

A strong syndicate has taken control of allotment and leasing process of the token shops in the capital's bus terminals, and thus earning millions of taka every year through various malpractices, officials and traders said.  
They said the syndicate established its reign over the mini shops in the busy terminals by taking the opportunity of resource constraint of the city corporations, thus depriving the government of a huge amount of revenue.
Both Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) leased out those shops - 30 square feet or 42 square feet in size each - to the leases, and gave them token numbers of the outlets, also called token shops, at a rate of Tk 5.0 per square feet a month.
According to the official rate, the city corporations monthly get revenue of Tk 150 and Tk 210 respectively from each shop in the aforesaid categories.
But the real scenario is completely different in the bus terminals, as the tokens are resold at least thrice before reaching the real operators, making operation of the shops more expensive.  
Seeking anonymity, a senior official at DNCC said real monthly rent of these shops increased to Tk 10,000 because of the illegal sub-leasing system. In some cases, the amount even goes up to Tk 12,000.
He said the city corporations collect revenue from the shops, parked buses and counters through their appointed 'collection assistants', as they cannot call open tender for the work since 2007, following a writ petition in the High Court.
The shop-tokens are supposed to be given to people of lower-income group, who do not have ability to afford a shop. But union leaders in the transportation sector, local political leaders and activists, housemaids of some public officials and even imams of mosques managed to secure tokens for business, the DNCC official also said.
"They've collected such tokens against the names of their housemaids, drivers and other people, without having any existence at all. But we have nothing to do, as they are too powerful and controlling the business," he added.    
The move to lease out the shops was taken to thwart floating vendors, creating impediment to vehicular movements inside the terminals.
From 2003 to 2006, the shops were operated by Panam Company, which secured the jobs through an open tender. But the deal was scrapped following a row between the firm and the then Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) over due payments of revenue.
The private company filed a writ petition in the High Court in 2007, and secured a stay order on any move for fresh bidding for the work. Since then, DCC has been collecting revenue from the terminals through their assistants.
At present, it is found that rent of the shops has gone up by at least Tk 150 in addition to the government-fixed fare at each stage of the unauthorised sub-leasing process.
A total of 243 token shops are being operated in the capital's three major inter-district bus terminals - 106 in Gabtoli, 77 in Sayedabad and 60 in Mohakhali.
Three influential transport workers' leaders - Jashim Uddin, Abul Kalam Azad and Shahidullah Chhadu - are now collecting revenue from the shops as assistants of the city corporations in exchange of monthly payment of Tk 117,0000, Tk 96,000 and Tk 50,000 for Gabtoli, Sayedabad and Mohakhali bus terminals respectively.
"We don't know the official rate for rent. I need to pay Tk 300 per day to the token-holder, if I open my outlet," Mohammad Mohan, who runs a shop at a terminal, told the FE.
At the same time, the shop operators have to make extra payments of Tk 100 as various fees to police, electrician, cleaner and water supplier.
"So, I've to pay around Tk 12,000 per month for a 42-sft shop," he added.
Another shop runner Anu Miah said getting space in the government land has become much more expensive than the private one. Many powerful parties are involved in business with the public land.
"I cannot say anything more about it, as I don't want to be kicked out from the place," he concluded.
According to a person, who collects token charge on behalf of the token-holders, said rent of the shops has gone up by at least Tk 150 at each stage of the sub-leasing process, as more parties are getting involved in the trade.
Talking about the issue, assistant manager (transport) of DNCC for Gabtoli Bus Terminal Delwar Hossain said they appointed the revenue collection assistants to handle the shops in exchange of monthly payment of Tk 117,000 per month because of limited manpower to accomplish the work.
"Yes, we can raise revenue many times, if we can manage the shops at our own planning. But now it's quite difficult, as many influential people are getting involved with it," he added.
The city corporations are not getting any revenue from the shops because of the ongoing non-stop blockade coupled with hartal, as there was a condition in the agreement that the fare would be applicable for normal days only.
Defying the condition, the syndicate is collecting rent and other charges, as fixed by themselves, from the sellers on a regular basis, according to the shop operators.
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