Only 5,000 uot of 12,000 auto-rickshaws operating in Dhaka City have obtained attestation from BRTA, but even those refuse to run on meters
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| The CNG auto-rickshaw drivers are back to business as usual, running on contracted fare instead of meter |
Meter fare system does not work when it comes to CNG auto-rickshaws. The drivers are using the successive hikes in gas price as an excuse to charge arbitrary fares on every single route in Dhaka City and they refuse to use meters. Initially police were active in catching those auto-rickshaws, which were running without meters. They used to stop auto-rickshaws and ask passengers if they were traveling on metered fare or "contracted" fare. Passengers often told the truth and then police fined the drivers.
Gradually that changed and, instead of fining the driver, police started taking bribes. So now it does not matter if a passenger tells the police, because the auto-drivers know they will be let off the hook if they pay.
Even though it was planned that from March 28 last year onwards a mobile court would be set up with at least six experienced executive magistrates to ensure that the drivers did not charge higher fare than what the meter showed, they have not yet been seen on the roads till today. So CNG drivers are having a field day on the doad harassing passengers by charging fares to their heart's content. However, chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Md. Ayub-ur Rahman, said, "If any CNG auto-rickshaw driver refuses to accept fare by the meter, he faces punitive imprisonment of up to two months under the law. In the last four months, 130 CNGs have been detained and 127 drivers have been punished."
A source form BRTA informed they had publicly announced that if CNG drivers declined to comply with the meter fare, they would face punishment in the form of termination of their route permit as well as imprisonment. However, to implement that law, neither the BRTA mobile court or their magistrates nor any measures form DMP have been noticed on the road.
Instead, the auto-rickshaw drivers have become more aggressive and they are ever more arrogant in their refusal to operate by the meter. A commuter named Kabir Hossain had to hire a CNG numbered Dhaka Metro tha-13-3410 for 200 taka to take him from Gulshan to Shahbagh. He was, however, taken on board by the driver on the condition that if the police or the mobile court stopped them he would have to say that he was going by the meter. Having no other choice, Kabir still got into the CNG reluctantly accepting the condition from his driver.
To make it appear that his vehicle was running on meter, the driver left the meter on the same situation was observed with other CNG auto-rickshaws numbered Dhaka Metro tha-13-3895, Dhaka Metro tha-14-20478, Dhaka Metro tha-14-2849 and Dhaka Metro tha-14217. Drivers said they did not concur with regulations obliging them to take passengers under a fixed rate by the meter.
On January 12 last year, the government signed a trilateral agreement with the Auto-rickshaws would be set at 25 taka for the first two kilometers and then seven taka for every additional kilometer traveled. Furthermore, during stoppages and waiting at signals, 1.25 taka would be incurred per minute. At the same time, the deposit to the owners was determined at 600 taka per day. The agreement also stipulated that if the driver charged more than that indicated by the meter and if the owners asked for additional deposit from the drivers, they would face termination of their route permit and other punitive actions.
Sources inform that out of 12,000 auto-rickshaws in Dhaka, fewer than 5,000 took a letter of attestation from BRTA as evidence of getting their meters adjusted to the new rates. BRTA officials confirmed that the remaining 7,000 auto-rickshaws did not bother to obtain the attestation later. So it can be assumed that they are illegally running without meters
Gradually that changed and, instead of fining the driver, police started taking bribes. So now it does not matter if a passenger tells the police, because the auto-drivers know they will be let off the hook if they pay.
Even though it was planned that from March 28 last year onwards a mobile court would be set up with at least six experienced executive magistrates to ensure that the drivers did not charge higher fare than what the meter showed, they have not yet been seen on the roads till today. So CNG drivers are having a field day on the doad harassing passengers by charging fares to their heart's content. However, chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), Md. Ayub-ur Rahman, said, "If any CNG auto-rickshaw driver refuses to accept fare by the meter, he faces punitive imprisonment of up to two months under the law. In the last four months, 130 CNGs have been detained and 127 drivers have been punished."
A source form BRTA informed they had publicly announced that if CNG drivers declined to comply with the meter fare, they would face punishment in the form of termination of their route permit as well as imprisonment. However, to implement that law, neither the BRTA mobile court or their magistrates nor any measures form DMP have been noticed on the road.
Instead, the auto-rickshaw drivers have become more aggressive and they are ever more arrogant in their refusal to operate by the meter. A commuter named Kabir Hossain had to hire a CNG numbered Dhaka Metro tha-13-3410 for 200 taka to take him from Gulshan to Shahbagh. He was, however, taken on board by the driver on the condition that if the police or the mobile court stopped them he would have to say that he was going by the meter. Having no other choice, Kabir still got into the CNG reluctantly accepting the condition from his driver.
To make it appear that his vehicle was running on meter, the driver left the meter on the same situation was observed with other CNG auto-rickshaws numbered Dhaka Metro tha-13-3895, Dhaka Metro tha-14-20478, Dhaka Metro tha-14-2849 and Dhaka Metro tha-14217. Drivers said they did not concur with regulations obliging them to take passengers under a fixed rate by the meter.
On January 12 last year, the government signed a trilateral agreement with the Auto-rickshaws would be set at 25 taka for the first two kilometers and then seven taka for every additional kilometer traveled. Furthermore, during stoppages and waiting at signals, 1.25 taka would be incurred per minute. At the same time, the deposit to the owners was determined at 600 taka per day. The agreement also stipulated that if the driver charged more than that indicated by the meter and if the owners asked for additional deposit from the drivers, they would face termination of their route permit and other punitive actions.
Sources inform that out of 12,000 auto-rickshaws in Dhaka, fewer than 5,000 took a letter of attestation from BRTA as evidence of getting their meters adjusted to the new rates. BRTA officials confirmed that the remaining 7,000 auto-rickshaws did not bother to obtain the attestation later. So it can be assumed that they are illegally running without meters
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