Cheating in name of 'sitting service' continues
There is an unabated cheating uptrend in the name of bus ‘sitting service’ in the capital.
The majority of buses plying in the capital and its outskirts are being operated as sitting service ones, but only in name.
Passengers allege that they are forced to pay additional fares and are facing hassles as these so-called sitting service buses make random stops to pick up and drop off passengers.
There was a decision by the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) that banned the service from April 16, but it was later reviewed, and then came the decision to legalize the so-called sitting or gate-lock service, as interested bus owners were providing the same.
While visiting some transport routes in the capital, this correspondent noticed that there was no distinct guideline either for sitting or local services. Mahfuz Towhid, a private firm employee who commutes from Sadarghat to Mohakhali through Ajmeri Glori, said , “I come from and go to my office regularly by this transport service. The bus workers pick up passengers promising non-stop sitting service, but every time they break the promise, but I have to pay the same fare,” he added.
Meanwhile, there is an instruction of the BRTC authority that a definite fare chart be hung in every bus. But no such chart is visible.
Md Mojammel Haque Chawdhury, General Secreatary of Bangladesh Jatri Kollayan Somiti, told the Bangladesh Post that there is no separate bus system in the name of sitting service. But the bus owners are trying to take additional fares from passengers under such a name.
According to the BRTC, there are around six thousand buses in Dhaka and its outskirts. The authority has fixed minimum tk 7 as fare for buses and tk 5 for mini-buses. But it is seen that fares between tk 10 to 50 are charged at various places.
Meanwhile, there is a recommendation from the BRTC special committee to limit sitting service by regulating definite bus numbers, fares, and routes.
The committee was formed by the BRTC according to the direction of the Communication Ministry to decide on whether the sitting service would exist.
The majority of buses plying in the capital and its outskirts are being operated as sitting service ones, but only in name.
Passengers allege that they are forced to pay additional fares and are facing hassles as these so-called sitting service buses make random stops to pick up and drop off passengers.
There was a decision by the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) that banned the service from April 16, but it was later reviewed, and then came the decision to legalize the so-called sitting or gate-lock service, as interested bus owners were providing the same.
While visiting some transport routes in the capital, this correspondent noticed that there was no distinct guideline either for sitting or local services. Mahfuz Towhid, a private firm employee who commutes from Sadarghat to Mohakhali through Ajmeri Glori, said , “I come from and go to my office regularly by this transport service. The bus workers pick up passengers promising non-stop sitting service, but every time they break the promise, but I have to pay the same fare,” he added.
Meanwhile, there is an instruction of the BRTC authority that a definite fare chart be hung in every bus. But no such chart is visible.
Md Mojammel Haque Chawdhury, General Secreatary of Bangladesh Jatri Kollayan Somiti, told the Bangladesh Post that there is no separate bus system in the name of sitting service. But the bus owners are trying to take additional fares from passengers under such a name.
According to the BRTC, there are around six thousand buses in Dhaka and its outskirts. The authority has fixed minimum tk 7 as fare for buses and tk 5 for mini-buses. But it is seen that fares between tk 10 to 50 are charged at various places.
Meanwhile, there is a recommendation from the BRTC special committee to limit sitting service by regulating definite bus numbers, fares, and routes.
The committee was formed by the BRTC according to the direction of the Communication Ministry to decide on whether the sitting service would exist.
(The article was first published at The Bangladesh Post)
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