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CNG buses take advantage of faulty policy, raise fares

IMRUL HASAN
The fare of CNG-run buses on various routes in the city increased after the government last month raised bus fare due to petroleum price hike.
Commuters' say the fare of CNG-run buses must be fixed at a lower rate as CNG (compressed natural gas) is much cheaper than diesel or petrol.
The operators of the CNG-driven buses however said they have raised the fare due to high maintenance costs and price hike of spare parts.
The fare of CNG-run Mega City bus on Motijheel-Mohammadpur route has been increased by Tk 2, although the government have not increased CNG price.
Bikalpo Auto Super Service Ltd now also charges Tk 14 for a journey from Motijheel to Mirpur Section-12. The fare was Tk 12 earlier.
Bikalpo operates 43 CNG-run buses on this route.
The government recently fixed Tk 0.80 as per kilometre fare for a 52-seat bus and Tk 0.83 for a 30-seat bus, increasing from Tk 0.72 and Tk 0.75.
The government has not fixed separate fare for CNG buses.
Ashikur Rahman, a regular passenger from Mirpur-12 to Motijheel, said they are compelled to pay the extra fare which is illogical.
“We are not charging higher than the rate fixed by the government,” said a high official of Mega City bus service. “So this is not illegal,” he added.
He also said the government has not pointed out clearly whether the fare of CNG-run vehicles should be increased or not.
“As the government did not categorise the type of buses while increasing the fare, we have raised the fare,” said MA Zaman, manag-ing director of Bikalpo Auto Super Service.
Some passengers demand that the authorities should engage mobile courts to control “illegal” increase in CNG-run bus fare and ensure implementation of the fare chart.
Most of the bus owners said the prices of motor parts have increased.
“Now a tyre costs Tk 8,000, which is Tk 1,800 higher than the previous price. We pay the police Tk 5,000 in bribe every month. Besides, there are worker association's toll, extortion and other expenses,” said MA Zaman.
Md Alam of Bikalpo Auto Super said: “Though our buses are run by CNG, we are compelled to raise the fare for the high maintenance cost.”
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has not provided the operators with any fare chart, the bus owners themselves
have hung a chart. “Our chart is according to the increased rate fixed by the government,” said an official of Bikalpo.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials feared that it would be difficult to implement the fixed fare chart without any monitoring body.
“As the authorities have not given us any chart of CNG bus showing the distance and the fare, we cannot take any steps against the owners now. But we will do it after getting the chart,” said Md Saiful Alam, general secretary Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Samity.
BRTA Chairman MA Momen said they have asked the RHD to monitor the situation.
Communications Minister Nazmul Huda said: “People do not come to us directly with names of the buses charging high fare. If we find any specific allegation and evidence, we will punish them on the spot.”