CNG auto-rickshaws under metering system by June 30

Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury launched the system switching on meters on four auto-rickshaws at a simple ceremony on the Chittagong Press Club premises.

The government instructed the BRTA to bring all the auto-rickshaws in the city under the metering system by June 30, sources said.

The fare has been fixed at Tk 12 for the first two kilometres and Tk 5 for each additional kilometre distance, sources said.

Five government-approved companies have been entrusted with the task of providing the auto-rickshaws with meters, they said.

"The auto-rickshaw owners will have to collect the meters only from those companies and get the meters fixed after calibration is verified by BRTA," said Mujibur Rahman, assistant director of BRTA, Chittagong.

"The owners will be informed of the names of the companies and other relevant particulars of meter-fixing process through newspapers within a day or two," Mujibur said.

There are 13 thousand auto-rickshaws in the port city, according to official statistics. But the figure will be no less than 18 thousand, unofficial sources said.

When asked how many meters BRTA will fix by the stipulated time, Mujibur said it has started the meter-fixing process early this month and it will take some time. Fixing meters to all the auto-rickshaws, whatever the number is, will be completed within the stipulated time, he said.

The companies entrusted with providing the meters are capable of completing the task within the time, he said.

Meanwhile, the passengers, who very often go through altercation with the auto-rickshaw drivers charging higher fares, are happy with the introduction of metering system.

According to sources, running an auto-rickshaws by CNG (Condensed Natural Gas) reduces the fuel cost by over 60 per cent as one cubic meter of CNG of Tk 8.53 covers a 10 km distance.

But, instead of decreasing of the fare accordingly, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw rather charge even higher fare than petrol or octane-fired one does, the passengers said.

On the other hand, both the owners and drivers of CNG-run auto-rickshaw expressed resentment over the rate fixed by the government.

To travel a two kms distance even by a slow moving rickshaw, one has to pay more than Tk 12, they said.

It was not possible to run an auto-rickshaw for a fare equal to a rickshaw with much lower investment, they said.

"I could have bought over 30 rickshaws for over Tk 2.50 lakh that I had to spend for one CNG-run auto-rickshaw," said one Md Faruque of Ghat Farhadbeg on Monday. "The auto-rickshaw is now bringing me Tk 350 per day while 30 rickshaws could have brought me around Tk 1200," he said. "For the rickshaws I even don’t need to spend any repair cost that I have to do now for my auto-rickshaw," he added.

"If the fixed fare is implemented, the drivers will not be able to pay us the daily amount Tk 350 when we will suffer the most, he said.