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Abnormal rise in rickshaw fare

SYED TASHFIN CHOWDHURY
“What? That is an outrage! I can take a metered cab or CNG autorickshaw for that amount,” exclaimed a middle-aged commuter near Anando Cinema Hall in Farmgate.
He had just asked a rickshawpuller how much he would be charging to take him to Dhanmondi and was furious to hear Tk 35.
Since the beginning of Ramadan, rickshaw-pullers have started asking for exorbitant fares and angry commuters have even roughed up some of them.
"Commuters and passengers feel that they are being taken advantage of and therefore, fights and heated arguments are breaking out," said Khalid, a rickshaw passenger.
Most commuters complained that rickshaw-pullers have raised fares by 30-50 percent with the start of Ramadan.
“The fare from Kakoli in Banani to Kachukhet is currently Tk 20. We used to pay Tk 12-15 on the same distance even two weeks ago,” complained Nehal, a Dhaka Cantonment resident.
To travel between Banani and Gulshan 1 intersection, rickshaws are now charging Tk 15 although it was around Tk 12 before.
"They even ask for Tk 18 or 20 on rainy days," said a student of a private university in the area.
Rickshaw fare from Malibagh to Naya Paltan is currently Tk 20. It was not more than Tk 10-12 before Ramadan. The scenario is pretty similar all over the city.
Because of the rickshaw-fare situation, many commuters now prefer to walk or wait in long queues for sitting service buses.
“Earlier I used to take a rickshaw from Elephant Road to Shahbagh. But now I travel by the sitting service bus which is a lot cheaper,” said Omi, a resident of Elephant road.
For women and children, the situation is more difficult.
“For fasting women like me and for the children, it gets quite strenuous to walk,” said Fatema Mobin who normally rides a rickshaw home after picking her son from his school in Dhanmondi.
But nowadays, Mobin and her son often have to walk a long way as rickshaw-pullers demand very high fare.
In order to avoid the hassle, people living in Cantonment and Kachukhet areas have started hiring rickshaw vans jointly to reach Kakoli or Banani.
“The vans are cheaper and for Tk five one can travel the distance. That would have been impossible in a rickshaw,” said a van-rider.
Rickshaw-pullers meanwhile are unwilling to compromise with the fares. They said that owners have increased their daily deposit rate and therefore they have no other way.
According to rickshaw-pullers, the daily deposit per normal shift of 10 hours has increased to Tk 90100 from Tk 50-60. The rates for half shifts (four hours) have also gone up.
Owners of rickshaws and members of various rickshaw associations said they too were helpless with price of everything spiralling.
“The price of most accessories and essentials for rickshaws like tyres, ramps, cushions, rings, chains etc have almost doubled over the last few weeks. We had to
increase the deposit amount as a result,” said a rickshaw garage owner.
Fazlur Rahman, a member of Bangladesh rickshaw van drivers and owners union of Gandaria explained that the increase in daily deposit was indirectly being caused by the ongoing drive against illegal rickshaws.
“Earlier, around three lakh illegal and legal rickshaws plied the city streets. Only 80,000 rickshaws from those are running in Dhaka now after the drives. Due to the high demand and low supply of rickshaws, owners are compelled to raise the deposit rate,” claimed Rahman.
Commuters meanwhile, are frustrated that the city still lacks a monitoring body that can keep an eye on the activities of rickshawpullers and fares.
“We aid the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in their drives with records, registration numbers etc of rickshaws. But the formulation of fares are not under our jurisdiction,” said an official of Revenue Circle-2 of Dhaka City Corporation.