Black market of launch tickets leaves passengers frustrated

Owners of launches plying on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route have sold all cabin tickets of 22 regular and special triple-deck launches as part of the Eid-special service. They have already earned over Tk. 6 crore from passengers by collecting in advance the full price of tickets.  

The passengers, however, claimed that the launch owners had sold the tickets on the black market. Sources said that a total of 22 triple-deck launches were operating regular Eid trips every night. These launches have more than 3,000 first-class cabins, including single and 581 double, 89 VIP, 40 family and 29 shoukhin cabins, as well as over 2,000 sofa sets.  The launch owners have already earned hefty amounts by selling almost all the cabin and sofa tickets for the Eid-special vessels.

According to official sources, these 22 launches can carry a maximum of 19,000 passengers on each trip. But at least 50,000 passengers are being carried by them in every Eid trip each night. The launch owners manage to get away with this illegal overloading during Eid every year, thanks to the complicity of certain officials and policemen.

A visit to the Barisal river port showed that Barisalghat Sramik League leader Porimal Chandra was leading a gang of ticket racketeers. Porimal’s associates were openly selling tickets on the black market.

Sources said that black marketeers of Eid-special launch tickets gave large amounts to launch offices at least two months in advance for Eid tickets. They could manage to run the racket by giving a share to officials, including the ghat police.

Police sources said there was a law to take action against those who sell movie tickets at a premium, but law enforcers could not effectively control the black marketing of launch tickets. They, however, maintained that the police were doing their best to arrest those indulging in the malpractice. When asked, sources in the Bangladesh Launch Owners’ Association said an increase in the number of vessels along with a drastic fall in the number of passengers have created serious problems regarding the sustainability of the business. The sources also said that about 1,500 passengers were needed per launch for every trip to make a minimum profit. But an increase in the number launches and a hike in fairs had led to a sharp fall in the number of passengers in this river route throughout the year, they added.

In normal times, 500 is the highest number of passengers a launch carries per trip—a number that is not sufficient to sustain the business.

Black market of launch tickets leaves passengers frustrated

Owners of launches plying on the Dhaka-Barisal-Dhaka route have sold all cabin tickets of 22 regular and special triple-deck launches as part of the Eid-special service. They have already earned over Tk. 6 crore from passengers by collecting in advance the full price of tickets. The passengers, however, claimed that the launch owners had sold the tickets on the black market. Sources said that a total of 22 triple-deck launches were operating regular Eid trips every night. These launches have more than 3,000 first-class cabins, including single and 581 double, 89 VIP, 40 family and 29 shoukhin cabins, as well as over 2,000 sofa sets. The launch owners have already earned hefty amounts by selling almost all the cabin and sofa tickets for the Eid-special vessels. According to official sources, these 22 launches can carry a maximum of 19,000 passengers on each trip. But at least 50,000 passengers are being carried by them in every Eid trip each night. The launch owners manage to get away with this illegal overloading during Eid every year, thanks to the complicity of certain officials and policemen. A visit to the Barisal river port showed that Barisalghat Sramik League leader Porimal Chandra was leading a gang of ticket racketeers. Porimals associates were openly selling tickets on the black market. Sources said that black marketeers of Eid-special launch tickets gave large amounts to launch offices at least two months in advance for Eid tickets. They could manage to run the racket by giving a share to officials, including the ghat police. Police sources said there was a law to take action against those who sell movie tickets at a premium, but law enforcers could not effectively control the black marketing of launch tickets. They, however, maintained that the police were doing their best to arrest those indulging in the malpractice. When asked, sources in the Bangladesh Launch Owners Association said an increase in the number of vessels along with a drastic fall in the number of passengers have created serious problems regarding the sustainability of the business. The sources also said that about 1,500 passengers were needed per launch for every trip to make a minimum profit. But an increase in the number launches and a hike in fairs had led to a sharp fall in the number of passengers in this river route throughout the year, they added. In normal times, 500 is the highest number of passengers a launch carries per tripa number that is not sufficient to sustain the business.