An effort to crack down on runaway fare demands by CNG-run autorickshaw drivers will come into effect today, with the roads and bridges minister kicking off a metered-fare enforcement initiative and a new fare structure.
Revised fares for CNG-run autorickshaws will come into effect in the capital from today and in Chittagong city from next January.
But commuters are still concerned that autorickshaw drivers will take advantage of the lack of monitoring and return to overcharging passengers.
Many autorickshaw drivers, speaking off the record, have said as much. They said the new meter rules and fare chart would not last more than a month, implying that enforcement would soon fizzle out.
Abu Naser, public relations officer of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said: “The minister will visit Manik Mia Avenue at noon today. A high-powered committee headed by the director (administration) of BRTA will also be present at the occasion. The high-powered committee has been formed to monitor possible anomalies and abuses of the rules, such as passengers being charged extra.”
The minister earlier said: “After November 1, passengers must complain to the police and the committee if they are charged extra or if they spot any autorickshaw with its trip meter out of order.”
According to the new fare rates, passengers of autorickshaws will be charged Tk40 for the first two kilometres of travel instead of the current rate of Tk25. They will be charged Tk12 each for each subsequent kilometre instead of Tk6. There will be a Tk2 waiting charge per minute.
As part of the initiative, only CNG-run autorickshaws with recalibrated meters checked by the BRTA will be allowed on the city’s streets from today.
Currently, there are more than 12,320 CNG-run auto-rickshaws in the Dhaka metropolitan area but only half have BRTA-checked recalibrated meters as of 5pm yesterday, a BRTA official said.
Dhaka Mahanagar CNG Autorickshaw Oikya Parishad convenor Borkatullah Bulo disputed this figure, telling the Dhaka Tribune that around 11,000 autorickshaws had had their meters recalibrated as of 6pm yesterday.
The daily deposit autorickshaw drivers pay vehicle owners has gone up from Tk600 to Tk900 to ensure the meter system.
Meters are maintained by six companies in the capital city, including Distribution-one and Crystal, but meters must be checked by the BRTA to ensure that they are compliant with the rules.