Rent-a-cars doing brisk business

Rent-a-car owners are doing brisk business due to scarcity of other means of transports for journeys on the occasion of two major religious festivals-Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja, sources said.
Trips increased by four times compared to those of Eid-ul-Fitr festival as the official vacation of jobholders has fallen almost at the same time for observing the festivals, they said.
The last day of Puja was observed Saturday while Eid will be celebrated tomorrow (Monday) and the holidaymakers have been enjoying the vacation since October 3.
Transport operators, however, expressed the fear that unfit vehicles might be added to the rent-a-car owners' fleets which could increase passengers' woes further in the highways.
"Our business was dull due to longer holidays during Eid-ul-Fitr, particularly for vacation of the educational institutions much earlier," manager of Shatota Rent-a-Car in Azimpur area, Md Abdul Wadud, said.
"Even booking declined significantly ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr compared to normal days," he said.
"But the situation is different this time as the official vacation for the two major festivals has fallen almost at the same time which has caused immense shortage of transports".
He said all of their vehicles including five cars and two microbuses were booked for October 2 to 6.
He said: "We were forced to book four vehicles from a Keraniganj rent-a-car house to meet the demand."
Md Samiul Alam (Sami), an NGO official, came to Azimpur Graveyard area in the city Saturday to rent a microbus for journey to Rangpur.
Talking to the FE he said he needed 8 bus tickets for October 3 or 4 for his family but failed to collect the same.
"I've been here for two hours as the manager of the rent-a-car office assured me of managing a microbus tonight," Mr Sami said.
Meanwhile, many rent-a-car owners admitted that they have increased the fare by 25-30 per cent following shortage of vehicles.
Tareqe Hasan, owner of Reetu Rent-a-Car in Adabor area told the FE that charge for a trip to Sirajganj town is now Tk 7,000-7,500 against the usual Tk 5,500-6,000 while the fare for Rangpur is Tk 13,500-14,000 against Tk 12,000-12,500 previously.
Overall booking increased by four times this year, he said.
However, many of the drivers expressed their satisfaction over the trips as their incomes depend on the commission they get for a trip in the absence of fixed salary.
Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Advocate Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan told the FE that hundreds of unfit cars and microbuses are being added to the fleets of the rent-a-cars.
"Such vehicles might cause severe traffic jams in the highways as those could go out of order any time," he said.
"Unfit vehicles also cause accidents," he added.
An official at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) told the FE that the authority has no specific data on unfit cars and microbuses.
He said nearly 10,000 unregistered, flabby cars and microbuses ply the roads of which a good number enter the Dhaka city ahead of major festivals under subcontract with the rent-a-car owners.  
Executive committee member of the City Cab and Microbus Owners Association (CMOA) Md Mubarak Hossain told the FE that cars and microbuses under his association and Dhaka Cars and Microbus Owners Association (DCMOA) are registered with BRTA.
He said the unfit vehicles come from the adjacent districts of Dhaka.
Shortage of tickets of inter-district buses, trains and launches for vacation during Eid every year drives a major portion of the city dwellers to rent cars or microbuses for home ward, journeys to celebrate the festival with their near and dear ones. The rush of home-goers helps rent-a-car businesses make windfall profits.
According to CMOA and DCMOA, nearly 2,200 cars and microbuses are used in the rent-a-car business in the capital. The annual turnover of the sector was around Tk 1.2 billion in the calendar year 2013.

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