Passengers, who are leaving the port city to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr with their families, are perturbed by the transport service providers. They complained that public transporters have inflated fares despite ongoing drives by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA).
A mobile team led by BRTA Executive Magistrate SM Monjurul Hoque recently conducted four drives and fined the transport operators with a total of Tk3,41,000 for overcharging the home goers ahead of the Eid.
While taking to Dhaka Tribune, the executive magistrate said they have opened a Facebook page "Magistrates of BRTA Chattogram" so that passengers can lodge their complaints regarding extra fares.
"Taking cognizance of two complaints from the page, we conducted drives in several bus counters at AK Khan Gate on Friday and fined three errant bus operators with a total of Tk 70,000 for overcharging passengers," he said.
"We will continue the drives and stern actions will be taken against the errant bus operators if we get any complaint," warned BRTA official.
Despite being fined for overcharging, Shahi Paribahan did not shape up. On Sunday, Farida Yasmin, a housewife lodged a complaint that she had to buy a ticket for Choumohony for Tk500 whereas the regular fare is Tk280.
Asked for a comment, Kafil Uddin, general secretary of Chittagong Inter-district Bus Owners’ Association said that charging beyond the government-fixed fares is illegal.
"The government has fixed Tk1.42 per kilometre as bus fare. We will take necessary punitive action if any operator is found overcharging," said Kafil.
However, Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh, said the incidents of overcharging from the passengers are happening due to the failure of implementing relevant rules.
"It is the responsibility of the government to protect passengers' right and address the anomalies of the transport sector. The concerned regulating authorities should be more active to check the overcharging," said Mozammel.
However, the bus operators said they have to take extra fare during Eid season as the buses have return mostly empty.
