Two months after fare charts were installed across the Dhaka University campus as part of a plan to introduce uniformly dressed, non-smoking rickshaw pullers operating under fixed rates, the initiative remains unimplemented.
The project, an initiative of the university administration implemented in coordination with the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) and supported by Green Future Foundation, was designed to bring order to campus transport through registered drivers, standard uniforms, and regulated fares. However, despite preparatory steps, it has yet to be formally launched.
DUCSU officials say they have completed all preparations on their end, including selecting rickshaw pullers, preparing fare charts, and distributing vests. According to them, the delay now lies with the administration.
The university administration, however, says that around 50 of the 100 non-smoking rickshaw pullers on their approved list have since started operating unauthorised battery-powered vehicles. They say they hope to launch the project either before or after the upcoming Eid.
DUCSU's Transport Secretary Asif Abdullah told the Dhaka Tribune, "Everything is ready on our end, we're all set to go — we just need staff posted at the campus entry and exit points, which the university administration hasn't been able to provide yet."
DU Estate Manager Fatema Binte Mostofa said the implementation process has taken longer than expected.
“Whenever we take up such initiatives, it takes three to four months just to organise everything. In the meantime, unauthorised battery-powered rickshaws became quite popular,” she said.
"Of the 100 non-smoking rickshaw pullers we had listed, about 50 of them have already switched to those unauthorised battery-powered vehicles. So now we have to put together a fresh list of young, non-smoking rickshaw pullers."
When asked for a more concrete timeline, the Estate Manager said it could happen either before or after the upcoming Eid ul-Adha.
Finding a DU student who hasn't had a frustrating experience haggling over rickshaw fares on campus is no easy task. Even for short distances, students end up paying well over the odds. Things have now reached a point where fares are essentially unregulated — with no oversight or fixed rate system in place, drivers are charging whatever they feel like, and students, left with no real alternative, have little choice but to pay up.
Currently, fares for short trips that previously cost around Tk 20 are often no less than Tk 30, with drivers setting prices arbitrarily in the absence of a functioning regulatory system.
Earlier on December 15, 2024, DU Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed announced that only registered rickshaws would be allowed to operate inside the campus in an effort to regulate movement and manage external access.
Before that, on May 18, 2023, following complaints from students and teachers — and under the initiative of Bangladesh Chhatra League, now a banned organisation — the university administration had introduced a fixed fare structure for the campus. Rates were set based on distance, ranging from a minimum of 15 taka to a maximum of 40 taka.
