United News of Bangladesh

Rejecting the 60 percent bus fares hike, Jatri Kalyan Samity, a passengers' welfare organization, demanded the government to maintain the previous rate bus fares.   The organisation’s Secretary General Mozammel Haque came up with the demand in a press statement on Saturday.   The statement said, “The government has irrationally imposed a 60 percent hike in bus fares on the general people of the country during the coronavirus crisis. Passengers’ interest has been utterly neglected. This decision will increase anarchy over bus fares and passengers’ harassment. People will suffer more for the decision,”   Without proper cost analysis, without any bargaining with the owners and by showing fake calculations such fare hike is tantamount to oppression on helpless people, added the statement.   So the passengers  will not accept this unreasonable fare increase in any way, it said.   The government has increased fares of inter-district and long routes (Dhaka, Chittagong cities and adjoining areas) bus and minibuses by 60 percent, in order to compensate bus owners carrying 50 percent less passengers to prevent the transmission of coronavirus.    Passengers will have to pay the additional bus fares from June 1 (Monday), said a gazette notification issued  by the Road, Transport and Bridges Ministry on Sunday.   The notification said the additional fares for inter-district and long routes buses and minibuses will be increase by 60 from existing Tk 1.42 for a kilometer.