Home ›› 09 Apr 2022 ›› Front
Alam – who drives a CNG-run auto-rickshaw – was patiently waiting to pick up a passenger in the city’s Mohakhali area, within close proximity to a traffic police post. His vehicle’s licence plate showed only the letters “Dhaka Tha,” indicating the lack of a metropolitan route permit.
By law, all CNG-run auto rickshaws plying the Dhaka metropolitan area must get a “Dhaka Metro” licence from the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). But Alam did not seem to be bothered at all by the police presence nearby.
Under the guise of a passenger, the correspondent hired the driver to learn what it takes to roam around Dhaka without a metropolitan route permit.
Alam, who was quite eager to divulge his secrets, said, “My lineman has contacts inside the police. Even if a traffic sergeant stops me, I will just call the guy, and he will get me scot free in mere minutes.
“The owner of this four-stroke three-wheeler vehicle has a contract with some police sergeants of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). He pays them Tk 3,000 every month as bribe, and they allow this vehicle to roam within the Dhaka metropolitan area.”
BRTA officials say CNG-run auto-rickshaws with licence plates showing “Dhaka” or “Gazipur” are only permitted to operate in areas under the Dhaka district, but not in the metropolitan areas of Dhaka or any other cities.
The reality is however very different, as thousands of CNG-run auto-rickshaws registered in Gazipur, Narayanganj and Munshiganj districts are freely running on fare in Dhaka city, right under the noses of traffic police.
Another driver – in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw also featuring a “Dhaka” licence plate – was waiting to pick up passengers close to the Ramna Police Station in the city’s Kakrail area.
When asked about his metropolitan route permit, the driver, requesting anonymity, said he has a contract with the police, and showed the correspondent a piece of paper with the name of a traffic sergeant and two mobile numbers written on it.
“I pay Tk 700 to the owner of this auto-rickshaw as daily rent, whereas someone driving an auto-rickshaw with metropolitan licence must pay Tk 1,200 per day. So, I drive this auto-rickshaw illegally to save Tk 500 daily,” the driver said.
Responding to the allegations against the traffic police, Sergeant Rakibul Hasan of the capital’s Rampura area said, “The CNG-run auto-rickshaw drivers are not facing extortion. We conduct regular drives against auto-rickshaws that are illegally plying the capital city.”
However, dozens of auto-rickshaw drivers in all major areas of Dhaka, including Mohakhali, Kakrail, Kurmitola, Badda, and Motijheel, admitted to The Business Post that their vehicles cannot operate in the metropolitan area legally, but they are doing it anyways by paying bribes.
A CNG-run auto-rickshaw owner from the city’s Badda, said, “We usually pay a monthly sum of Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,000 to the lineman, who is recruited by traffic police. If a sergeant stops an illegally run auto-rickshaw, the driver contacts the lineman or the police to get out of trouble.”
Commenting on the matter, Additional Commissioner (Traffic Division) of DMP Md Munibur Rahman said, “If any police personnel are found to be involved in irregularities, strict legal action will be taken against them.
“We are conducting regular drives to prevent CNG-run auto-rickshaws from illegally operating in the Dhaka city.”
Why do owners, drivers take the risk?
The government has been facilitating imports of 4-stroke CNG auto-rickshaws since FY2002-03 to mitigate the emissions of air pollutants, including oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and particulate matter from vehicles.
Later in 2007, the government adopted a policy on CNG/Petrol 4-Stroke Three-Wheeler Service, stating that no more than 13,000 CNG-run auto-rickshaws will be licenced for operating in the Dhaka city.
Though the government limited the number of such vehicles in the city through licencing restrictions, CNG-run auto-rickshaw owners and drivers say the demand in Dhaka city is nearly three to four times the legal limit.
So, owners and drivers are illegally operating auto-rickshaws within Dhaka city to capitalise on the high demand inside the Dhaka metropolitan area, insiders say.
How many such vehicles are there?
According to BRTA data, 20,671 CNG auto-rickshaws got registered in the Dhaka Metropolitan area until February 2022, and among those, 12,753 such vehicles registered between 2017 and 2022.
Of this figure, 3,413 auto-rickshaws got licenced in the suburbs of Narayanganj, Gazipur and other Dhaka districts in the last five years. Officials of the BRTA Operations Wing say around 5,000 auto-rickshaws have approval, but those are still unlicenced, and not plying the roads.
Zakir Hossain, president of Dhaka CNG Auto-Rickshaw Sramik Somonnoy Parishad, said most of the CNG auto-rickshaws registered in nearby districts are now operating in the Dhaka metropolitan area by paying extortion money to the traffic police.
He further said, “At least 4,000 private CNG auto rickshaws are running on fare too using the same illegal loophole. The four-stroke three-wheeler transportation sector is plagued with extortion and other irregularities due to a lack of fresh registrations issued by the BRTA.
“Because of this reason, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw with a Dhaka metropolitan registration number is now worth around Tk 12 lakh to Tk 20 lakh.”
Uttara Motors Ltd and Runner Automobiles Ltd are the top CNG auto-rickshaw suppliers in Bangladesh. They are selling a brand new CNG auto-rickshaw for around Tk 3.5 to 4 lakh.
Insiders claimed that the racket behind illegally operating CNG-run auto-rickshaws in Dhaka city benefits all parties involved, as drivers pay half the daily rent, the owners can buy vehicles at a relatively cheaper price, and the traffic police get monthly extortion money.
Game of hide and seek
In 2018, two high-school students died in a road crash in Dhaka while an unlicensed driver was racing to collect passengers. Following the deaths, a series of public protests broke out throughout Bangladesh, demanding road safety and stricter traffic laws.
Following these demonstrations, several mobile courts run by the BRTA magistrates and police had operated in Dhaka to curb irregularities on the roads, but illegal CNG-run auto-rickshaws continue to roam the city till this day.
Insiders claim that whenever mobile courts launch operations in the city, a certain quarter of traffic police and their linemen who collect extortion money warn illegally-run auto rickshaws to stay off the roads.
Md Sarwar Alam, former director (Enforcement) of BRTA said, “Police personnel usually work in busy road junctions and key points in the city, so they can better identify which of the CNG-run auto rickshaws are being run illegally.
“The police can be far more effective in shutting down illegally run auto-rickshaws. The mobile courts cannot do this alone. Political commitment is necessary to address this issue.”
Operating above the law
According to the CNG/Petrol 4-Stroke Three-Wheeler Service policy, CNG-run auto-rickshaws running on fare must charge passengers using the fare meter, and any tampering with the meter can result in the cancellation of route permit or driving licence.
However, finding an auto-rickshaw driver willing to charge his passenger using a meter is almost impossible in Dhaka. Passengers hiring a CNG auto-rickshaw to commute usually pay on contract basis, which is much higher than the meter-based fare.
Meanwhile, drivers say the auto-rickshaw owners are charging them much more than the government set rates, and they will not be able to afford the daily rent unless they overcharge consumers.
Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury, secretary general of Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity, told The Business Post, “Illegally run vehicles continue to operate in the city by bribing the police. This is why transport owners and drivers operate above the law.”
Md Khurshid Alam, Director (Enforcement) of BRTA said, “We have directed BRTA mobile courts to shut down illegal vehicles, including CNG-run auto-rickshaws, in the city. If any of the traffic police personnel is involved in extortion, only the police force can take action against them.”
