Jatri Kalyan Samity rejects hiked transport fare
It demands restoration of fair price
Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity has denounced the decision to increase public transport fare in the wake of fuel price hike.
"The government has increased bus and launch fares as per the demands of the owners at a higher rate than that of the increased fuel price," the association's Secretary General Mohammad Mozammel Hoque Chowdhury said in a press conference in Dhaka today.
Rejecting the current fares, he demanded the government to set reasonable and acceptable transport fares.
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The government increased the fares for intracity and long-haul buses by 26.5% and 27% respectively while the launch fare has been revised up by 35.29% on Sunday, following demands from the bus and launch owners of the country.
He said, "The maximum fare for new buses could be Tk1.60 per km and for old buses Tk1.10 if the cost analysis was done properly, which has now been unfairly increased from Tk1.42 to Tk1.80 for all buses."
Meanwhile, the organisation demanded Tk1.80 per km for large launches (with a capacity of 1500 to 2000 passengers) and Tk1.20 per km for small boats, dinghy boats, launches and trawlers (with a capacity of 150 to 500 passengers).
The new fares, which are not applicable for CNG-run buses, are effective starting today (Monday) morning.
Both the bus and launch owners called off the strike on Sunday evening after the government agreed to increase the transport fares.
