Sitting Service
Bus owners take commuters for a ride in capital
Staff Reporter
Most bus operators have been overcharging passengers in the name of providing sitting facilities.
Even though the service, where the doors of buses are to remain locked, was banned from April this year, bus operators are persisting with it to maximise profit.
A middle-aged woman was waiting at Savar yesterday for a bus to go to Farm Gate. She managed to board a sitting-service bus. Instead of carrying a limited number of passengers matching their seating capacity, the bus was loaded with people. The fare from Savar to Farm Gate was Tk. 30, but the conductor charged more.
The women told the conductor that she would lodge a complaint to the checker against him for not maintaining the fare and overloading the vehicle.
A passenger quipped that it was not sitting service, but a cheating service.
After a stop, the checker got on to the bus and all the passengers complained about the overloading. However, the checker kept his mum about the matter as the conductor gave him some extra money.
Transporters routinely overcharge passengers, paying no heed to the fixed fare of Tk 1.70 per kilometre within the Dhaka metropolitan area.
Passengers have expressed their worries over the continuing BRTA drive to stop private buses from providing illegal sitting or locked-gate services.
If passengers challenge the bus drivers and their helpers, they have their own explanations to offer. I am just doing my job and charging the amount I have been asked to charge, a bus helper told this correspondent.
The sitting service ran on a fixed fare based on the number of seats. There are four or five fixed stops for checking and maintaining the system. A checker records the number of passengers in a list book. The helper is pulled up if any discrepancy is found. The system was acceptable to the passengers as long as the rules were followed. But the system broke down when the owners tried to earn more profits by flouting the rules.
Commuters said if the authorities fail to enforce the rules, the transporters will continue to cheat the public. .
Public transport is the only means of travel for the majority of middle and low-income groups in Dhaka city. Bus stops are inconveniently located and the number of buses is insufficient.
Dhaka city transportation routes are not enough to cater to the citys growing number of commuters. Passengers feel the government should take immediate steps to end their harassment by transporters.
