Taxicab versus auto-rickshaw

The Financial Express in its April 30 issue mentioned that the newly-introduced luxury taxi-cabs were yet to attract users in significant numbers due mainly to improper fixation of fares coupled with insufficient number of cabs. The new fare has made the service much costlier with the rate going beyond reach of  the middle-class people.
 More than three million people of Dhaka Metropolis belong to middle and lower-middle class income groups. Every day they face tremendous problems to move from one place to another for non-availability of affordable mode of transport.
Taxi-cab is rarely available and not affordable. Therefore, one needs an auto-rickshaw to attend weddings, examinations and transferring patients to doctor's chamber or hospital. Public bus service is not available in all areas; those available remain overcrowded.
Nowadays it has become difficult to attend office on time without a private car. Very few people have the ability to afford a private car. Easily available CNG-run auto-rickshaws could solve their problem largely. Moreover, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw occupies less than half of the space on the road compared to a car or jeep.
The decision-makers of our country have the facility of using their personal or office vehicles. They do not feel the sufferings of the common people. They have imposed restrictions like high customs duty, supplementary tax against import and special permissions from administrative authorities for plying CNG run auto-rickshaws in the streets of Dhaka, which made auto-rickshaw fare costly as well. Dhaka city needs more auto rickshaws to cater the need of the middle class people.
We urge the authorities to withdraw supplementary duty on import of auto-rickshaws and withdraw all restrictions. Indeed, Dhaka city needs more than one hundred thousand CNG-run auto-rickshaws now to lessen the sufferings of people as taxi-cub service in no way is affordable to middle-class people.

Mohd Ashraf Hossain
Middle Bashabo, Dhaka
mah120cb@yahoo.com