ACC drive at Kamalapur

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Tuesday conducted a drive at Kamalapur Railway Station in Dhaka for overcharging passengers by the private operators of commuter trains.

A five-member enforcement team of the anti-graft body led by its Assistant Director Jesmin Aktar conducted the drive following a complaint received through ACC hotline 106.

ACC officials said the commission received an allegation that passengers are forced to buy three tickets against one seat to travel from Kamalapur Railway Station, Dhaka to Mohanganj on commuter train Mahua.

The commission secretly monitored the ticketing system of four privately-run train services including Mahua Commuter, Titus Commuter, Rajshahi Commuter and Jamalpur Commuter since the morning.

Impersonating them as passengers, the team members collected evidence of the irregularities from the passengers.

If a passenger wants to take one seat, they are being forced to buy two, three or four tickets against a seat and charging Tk 15-20 more fare along with a full seat fare for standing travel.

Although these private commuter services run under the Bangladesh Railway, they have no control over their management. It is known that they are violating the management agreement by harassing the passengers through overcharging passengers at their will.

According to the agreement of private management of commuter trains, they will use railway platforms, provide train services and provide passenger services as a subsidiary of Bangladesh Railways.

After ascertaining the scam, the team spoke to the station manager and station master about the mismanagement in ticket selling and passenger harassment. The officials informed that they have also received such complaints in the past. The enforcement team will submit a report to the ACC for taking the next course of action in this regard.