After walking long stretches of the road, this woman had to carry her daughter the rest of the way, as the little one’s feet couldn’t take their long search for public transport on the roads yesterday. Most of the buses remained suspended ever since the announcement of the fuel price hike. And for those who did manage to get a ride, they had to take on desperate measures like hanging from the bus entrance, holding onto the bars for dear life. These photos were taken in Shyamoli area. PHOTO: RASHED SHUMON

Day one of increased fuel price saw scuffles between bus staffers and passengers, a shortage of transport and taking additional fares by the staffers.

The reason shown by transport workers behind the excessive hike in fares was that new fare charts were yet to be prepared in line with the fuel price hike.

Meanwhile, rickshaw pullers, drivers of CNG-run three-wheelers and human-hauliers also took additional fares from commuters as this correspondent found during visits to Gulistan, Paltan, Shahbag, Science Laboratory, Banglamotor, Karwan Bazar and Farmgate yesterday.

The authorities on Saturday increased bus fares up to 22 percent, with the per kilometre fare for long-route buses being Tk 2.20 from the existing Tk 1.80. The fares for city buses saw an increase by 16 percent with the per kilometre fare being Tk 2.50 from the existing Tk 2.15.

Azizul Islam, a passenger of Sraban Paribahan, said, "I had to pay Tk 10 extra to go to Matuil from Gulistan."

"Bus staffers forced me to pay a much higher fare. The people are now in serious trouble as we were already under pressure due to the constant increase in our daily expenditure with the same income," he said.

When asked about additional charges, Md Mizan, driver of Moumita Paribahan, said, "We have not received any fare chart yet. Hence, we are taking fare from passengers Tk 2.50 per kilometre."

This correspondent visited Gulistan around 8:00am yesterday and saw a scarcity of buses during office hours. Service-holder Rafiqul Alam said he had to reach Gulistan on foot from his home to get a bus as he did not get any bus after waiting for 30 minutes.

Mamun, the helper of a Shikar Paribahan bus, said they are not bringing out all of their buses on the road fearing loss as people do not want to accept the new fare.

"We are now waiting for the fare chart from the government," he said.

Meanwhile, mobile courts set up by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) filed 15 cases against buses in Dhaka and Chattogram for overcharging yesterday.

The courts also realised Tk 32,500 as fines from the 15 vehicles, a BRTA official confirmed to this newspaper.

A total of 12 mobile courts conducted the drives on the first day of the hike, said the official wishing anonymity.

Moreover, the courts fined 93 vehicles of Tk 2.6 lakh for violating different traffic-related rules. Two vehicles were dumped and two brokers were given jail terms, he said.



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