Home ›› 22 Nov 2022 ›› Front
CNG-run auto rickshaw owners in the capital are seeking to increase the per kilometre fare fixed for the vehicle by the government citing soaring living costs and prices of auto rickshaw parts.
They also want authorities to raise the daily rent for the vehicle, Dhaka Mahanagar CNG Autorickshaw Malik Samiti Oikya Parishad President Md Barkat Ullah Bulu recently confirmed to The Business Post (TBP).
Sources at the Road Transport and Highways Division also confirmed the matter, saying a representative of the auto rickshaw owners will meet Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri to discuss the demands this week.
If the demands are met, the owners’ have promised to run CNG-run auto rickshaws on metres.
According to the government fixed rate in 2015, the fare of CNG-run auto rickshaws is set to Tk12 per kilometre. But in reality, there has been no implementation of the rate for years.
Auto rickshaw drivers carry passengers at rates fixed by bargaining with the passengers, sometimes extracting almost double the fare counted by metres.
Drivers say they have no way but to charge more as owners’ extract higher rent from them than the government fixed rate of Tk900 per day.
Now, the owners are once again promising to ensure CNG-run auto rickshaws will charge fare as calculated by the metre if their demands are met.
The association’s president Barkat Ullah said they have moved their demands to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). “We have approached the BRTA several times. Recently they have informed us that they will sit with us very soon,” Barkat Ullah said.
The owners, however, have not pressed for a specific amount of hike, which they expect to be fixed by government officials as per regulations.
The move is feared to put further pressure on low and middle income people who use the auto rickshaws as their daily mode of transport.
Drivers of CNG-run auto rickshaws have warned against the move, saying it will lead to a passenger shortage.
Golap Hossain, member secretary of the Dhaka Mahanagar CNG Auto rickshaw Drivers Association, told TBP that commuters will move away from using auto rickshaws if the fare is hiked.
The drivers will protest any kind of illogical daily rent hike as well, he said, adding that this will compel them to charge even higher fare from passengers.
“The owners wanted to hike charges in May as well. We did not let that happen,” Golap said. Auto rickshaw drivers alleged that they already have to pay the owners more than the government fixed rate of Tk900 a day.
The owners are charging Tk 1100 for a whole-day rent, they said, adding that some even rent one vehicle to two drivers in two shifts in violation of the rules, and charge Tk 700 for each shift.
Furthermore, some owners charge garage rent from drivers, which is supposed to be paid by the owners themselves as per regulations.
Golap said, “Driving a CNG is not financially viable as the fare shown on the metre is not compatible with the extra rent owners extract every day.”
He said, “The owners will extract more from us than whatever amount they hike as per regulations.”
On the other hand, owners said Tk 900 daily rent is not enough as prices of essential commodities are rising. In addition, expenditures on the vehicle have also risen due to surging prices of spare parts and compressed natural gas (CNG).
The BRTA had scheduled a meeting with the owners a few weeks back, but it never took place after a number of drivers’ organisations protested.
Currently, a total of 15,696 CNG-run auto rickshaws are in service in the capital, according to sources at the owners’ association.
