Increased bus fares effective from today in Dhaka, Ctg

People will have to pay extra bus fares from today onwards for travelling in Dhaka and Chittagong metropolises and their adjacent districts.

Passengers will be charged Tk 1.70 instead of the existing Tk 1.60 for travelling per kilometre by bus, according to the new government-fixed fare chart.

In case of the minibus, Tk 1.60 will be charged in lieu of Tk 1.50 for each kilometre.

For example, a passenger paid Tk 27 to go to Sadarghat from Pallabi of Mirpur by bus till yesterday, but today the fare will be Tk 29. If a passenger travels by minibus on the route, he or she will be charged Tk 27 now instead of Tk 25.

However, the minimum fares -- Tk 7 for bus and Tk 5 for minibus -- remain unchanged.

Following a recent price hike of compressed natural gas (CNG), the government on September 10 announced the new bus fare chart that takes effect today.

Over a dozen passengers told The Daily Star yesterday that transport operators might overcharge them due to lack of monitoring.

"Bus operators don't follow any rule and charge us according to their wish. Now they may increase the fare, taking advantage of the government announcement," said Nazrul Islam, who travels to Mirpur from Basabo regularly.

However, the authorities and bus owners said they would check overcharging.

"We already sent the new fare chart to the association. We will conduct mobile courts to tackle overcharging," said Masud Alam, deputy director of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).

Samdani Khandakar, office secretary of the Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association, said they would remain vigilant, so commuters were not charged extra.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association yesterday demanded re-fixing of the fares, claiming the new fares were higher compared to the CNG price hike.

The fare of CNG-run auto-rickshaws in Dhaka and Chittagong will increase on November 1.