Communication Minister Obaidul Quader announced that 5,000 taxicabs will be imported for operating in Dhaka and Chittagong by next October, while approving the proposal of 'Retired Army Officers Welfare Association (RAOWA)'.
The decision came at an inter-ministerial meeting on 'coordination of transport' and 'prevention of extortion during the Eid holidays,' held on July 29 and organised by the Ministry of Communication.
The initiative has been taken to reduce public sufferings regarding public transports, said Obaidul.
Among the 5,000 cabs, 3,500 will operate in Dhaka and 1,500 in Chittagong city. Only retired members of armed forces will drive those cabs in the two big cities following the system of developed countries.
After the meeting, the minister said: "Despite being called a modern metropolitan city, I don't consider Dhaka and Chittagong to be modern cities as there are no taxi cabs running there. How can a modern city function without taxi cabs, I wonder."
"The government has decided to import some cabs in the private sector. "We have invited expression of interest (EOI) from the relevant cab owners and drivers. However, so far we have qualified only one company for importing taxi cabs from and we have already placed the order," he added.
"Last week a delegation from RAOWA led by the army chief met with me and expressed interest to import and operate 5,000 taxi cabs in the two cities. We have approved their proposal and finalised the deal with them," said Quader.