There is no scope to reduce the fare of hajj flights this year, said Managing Director of national carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines Shafiul Azim on Sunday.“We have been working for the past three months over Hajj flight management of Biman. Our first proposal about fare was Tk 2.10 lakh. Later, it was reduced to Tk 1.98 lakh and the National Executive Committee fixed the fare. The reason behind the hike in hajj fare is increased tax, high dollar rate and jet fuel price. We don’t have hands in it,” he said.The CEO of the national carrier said this while speaking at a press briefing held at the Balaka office in Kurmitola.Replying to a question, he said, “The hajj fare which was fixed for this year is the lowest and we have reduced it as much as possible.”This year, the government has fixed the cost of performing hajj at Tk 6,83,018 for each pilgrim under the government management while Tk 6,72,618 under the private management. It fixed Tk 1,98,000 as Biman flight fare.The High Court on March 14 questioned how common people will perform hajj at the cost of the package set by the government.It questioned, “Why doesn't the government allocate budgets for the hajj like other countries in the world?”The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali came up with this observation while hearing a writ petition over revising the hajj package offered by the government this year. Ashraf-uz-Zaman sent a legal notice to the Ministry of Religious Affairs, requesting it to reduce the cost of hajj pilgrims and bring it under Tk 4 lakhLater, he filed a writ on March 12 as the concerned authority failed to respond to the legal notice.Hajj-2023 will be held on 9th day of Zilhaj (June 28) depending on moon sighting.As of March 15, a total of 9,569 people have registered for hajj under government management and another 91,246 people under private management.There are still 25,480 empty quotas for registration.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said that the fares of metro rail are within the reach of people. The Minister said this while replying to questions from journalists at the Secretariat on Thursday (December 29, 2022). “At least Tk 20 has to be paid when people ride on rickshaws. In that sense, the fare of metro rail is okay. There are differences between the metro rail of Dhaka and Kolkata. Our metro rail is better than those of Thailand and Indonesia. Dhaka’s metro rail looks good,” said Quader. The Minister added that the rest of the work of MRT-6 will be completed within next year.“Besides, we’ll also start the works of MRT-1 and MRT-5 under the rule of the Awami League (AL) government. Both of these MRT lines will cover an area of 31 kilometres, among which 21km will be underground and 10km will be expressway.” Read More: Dhaka Metro Rail launch: From ticketing to seating – things to know Feasibility study is being conducted in Chattogram to find out if metro rail service can be launched there, Quader added. Replying to a question, Quader, also the General Secretary of the ruling AL, said that his party leaders and activists will be guarding the streets on the day of Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) pre-scheduled mass procession on December 30. “Will we eat lollypops while BNP activists create violence? We’ll be on the streets tomorrow like we were on December 10,” Quader said. Quader further said that AL will take part in the next general elections whether EVM is used or not.“We want EVMs to be used in the next election. However, we’ll accept the decision of the Election Commission (EC) in this regard. Whatever happens, we’ll participate in the next elections,” Quader said. Also read: Long queues seen at Agargaon station as metro rail opens to public.

The government has reduced the fares of inter-district and long route buses by Tk 5 paisa per kilometre after fuel prices were lowered by Tk 5 per litre. The decision was taken at a meeting held at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority's (BRTA) head office in the capital’s Banani on Wednesday, said Road Transport and Highways Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri. The new prices will be effective from Thursday, he added. The fares for inter-district and long routes buses and mini buses will be decreased to Tk 2.15 per kilometre from the existing Tk 2.20 per kilometre. The bus fare in Dhaka has decreased to Tk 2.45 per kilometre from the existing Tk 2.50 per kilometre. The minimum bus and mini buses fares in Dhaka have been fixed at Tk 10 and Tk 8 respectively. Read: Fuel price hike: Govt raises bus fares On Monday, the government lowered fuel prices by Tk5 per litre 23 days after raising them by up to 51.68 per cent. Prices of diesel and kerosene will now be Tk109, petrol Tk125, and octane Tk130 per litre at the filling stations, State Minister for Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told UNB. On August 6, BRTA increased fares of inter-district and long route buses by 22 percent and 16.27 percent in Dhaka as the government increased fuel prices to a record high amid the volatility in the global market.   Diesel and kerosene retail prices were fixed at Tk114, petrol at Tk130 per litre and octane at Tk135 per litre.

Be ready to shell out more for a bus or a ferry ride in Bangladesh. With the government raising fuel prices effective Saturday -- one of the steepest hikes to date, the fuel consumption cost of the transport sector, for both road and river routes, is likely to go up by 13.16-19.18%. This is according to an analysis by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division. The government has raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 114 per litre and that of petrol and octane to Tk 130 and Tk135 per litre, respectively. This Tk 34 per litre rise in diesel price will push up the per passenger per kilometre bus fare by Tk 0.292 or 16.22% for a 52-seater long-distance bus and by Tk 0.283 or 13.60% for a 52-seater bus operating in the city areas, as per the analysis. Similarly, the per passenger per kilometre fare of a diesel-run motor launch is likely to shoot up by Tk 0.42 or 19.18%, according to the Energy Division. Read: Consumer slapped with largest ever hikes in fuel oil prices So, the per passenger per kilometre long-distance bus fare is likely to go up to Tk 2.092 as against the existing Tk 1.80. For a city coach, it will go up to Tk 2.43 per passenger per kilometre from the existing Tk 2.15, as per the analysis. Similarly, the per passenger per kilometre launch fare will go up to Tk 2.62 from the current Tk 2.19, said the Energy Division. The prices of diesel and kerosene were last increased from Tk 65 to Tk 80 per litre on November 4, 2021. The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and Eastern Refinery Limited (ERL) have adjusted the petroleum prices as they are much higher in the international market as compared to this country, the Energy Division said on Friday. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said, "The government avoided increasing the prices of fuel for as long as it could. Now some adjustments have to be made taking stock of the current global situation." He, however, offered some hope that the prices may come down if there is any improvement in the situation in the international energy market. "In April 2016, the government reduced the prices of fuel. If the situation normalises, the prices of fuel will be revised accordingly." Read: Fuel Price hike: Now petrol pump, tank-lorry owners demand rise in commissions, transportation fares Nasrul said due to the upward trend in fuel prices in the global market, many countries have been regularly making adjustments to prices. It would seem the government has chosen to gain parity with prices in the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal. West Bengal government set the price of diesel at Rs 92.76 per litre and petrol at Rs 106.03 per litre in Kolkata on May 22, 2022 -- these prices remain in effect and work out to Tk114.09 (diesel) and Tk130.42 (petrol), at an exchange rate of Rs 1 to Tk 1.23. Also, the BPC already incurred a loss of Tk 8,014.51crore in petroleum sales in the last six months, from February to July.

Buses will operate at half of their capacities from Saturday and at the previous fare, said the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). “Buses will carry 50 per cent passengers but the fare won’t be hiked this time,” said BRTA director Md Sarwar Alam. The decision was taken at a meeting with the leaders of transport owners and workers on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the leaders of transport owners and workers demanded the government allow them operate buses at their full capacities maintaining proper health protocols as flights are allowed to operate at 100 per cent of their capacities. READ: Extra fares in public transports: 1408 buses fined Tk 57.3 lakh in 30 days  The buses will not carry passengers beyond the number of seats in a bus, they said. The BRTA director said a recommendation will be submitted to the cabinet on Thursday in this regard. On Monday, the government imposed restrictions on public movement and other activities like operating public transport at their half capacities amid the growing concern over the new Omicron variant of Coronavirus. READ: Govt to allow half fares in BRTC buses for students: Obaidul Quader The Cabinet Division issued the notification on Monday which will take effect on January 13 and will remain in force until further notice.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said strict legal action will be taken if bus operators are found forcing the passengers to pay  higher fare than that has been re-fixed by the government.   "I am urging the leaders of the owners and workers' federation not to collect more than the re-fixed rate and refrain from harassing the passengers. Otherwise, strict legal action will be taken against those responsible for it," he said. READ: PM monitoring situation over fuel price hike: Quader The minister said this call at a briefing at his Secretariat office amid allegations of charging higher bus fares by transport operators in breach of their commitment to the government. Quader also said that the government has re-fixed the fares of diesel-powered passenger transports only after a hike in the prices of diesel and kerosene. READ: Quader blasts BNP for creating religious division in Bangladesh  He said that BRTA's mobile courts have been deployed in different parts of Dhaka metropolis to act against collection of extra fare. He called upon all concerned police and officials concerned to ensure that passengers are not harassed. Quader said that certain media outlets’ harsh criticism of the fuel hike has been unexpected, even though some others are playing a responsible role.   Fuel price was routinely raised during the BNP's rule and the people did not forget it, he said. Obaidul Quader further said BNP increased the price even when it was low in the international market. The Awami League has increased prices 5 times in the last 13 years but has also reduced prices 5 times. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reduced the price of fuel oil in 2009 within seven days of taking office. He claimed that the people of the country are moving forward.