Long-haul buses charge extra amid Eid rush. Dhaka-Ctg route an exception

Hailing from Natore, Ripon Islam lives in the capital’s Mohammadpur with his wife. He visited various bus counters in Kalyanpur and the Technical area in the last four days until Wednesday to buy tickets for a Natore-bound bus for 14 or 15 June. But he could not collect any.

As he failed to buy tickets amid the Eid rush, brokers next to a bus counter offered him tickets, but at a rate three times higher than the regular fare. Later, Ripon went to Mohakhali Bus Terminal. There, he witnessed the same scenario.

Ripon has to endure the same hassles to travel to his hometown during Eid every year.

Talking to The Business Standard at Mohakhali Bus Terminal on Wednesday, Ripon Islam said the regular fare from Dhaka to Natore is Tk600 on non-AC buses of branded transport companies. 

He said he tried to buy tickets for a Chapainawabganj bound bus to reach Natore. For that, he has been asked to pay for the fare for Dhaka-Chapainawabganj.   

“When I went to the counter, I was told that there were no tickets. Later, the brokers told me that they could arrange the tickets, but they asked for Tk1,500-2,000 per seat.”

However, unlike other routes, passengers of the Dhaka-Chattogram route are not facing any additional amount in bus fares ahead of Eid.

Passengers and transport owners on the Dhaka-Chattogram route attributed this to the availability of buses against the pressure of passengers before Eid, and the absence of any syndication.

The non-AC buses on the Dhaka-Chattogram route charge Tk650-680 per seat, and the AC ones charge up to Tk950-2,000 depending on the category.

Md Mostafa, a passenger of the Dhaka-Chattogram route, told TBS that he pays the same fare on this route even on Eid. “Tickets are available at the counter even on the eve of Eid. There is no crisis [of tickets] here like other routes.”

Talking to TBS, Mosharraf Hossain, general manager of Hanif Paribahan, credited the transport owner’s association of the Dhaka-Chattogram route for maintaining the bus fares at a constant rate. The number of transports on this route is very high, he said.

He, however, said the ticket price of their buses on the Dhaka-Chapainawabganj route is also fixed, and no one is allowed to sell their tickets in black, a claim contradicted by the experience of passengers like Ripon Islam. 

Situation on other routes 

The fares on Dhaka-Satkhira route buses have also increased by at least Tk200. The regular fare per seat on non-AC buses is Tk750-800, which has now jumped to Tk950-1000. The fare for an AC bus seat, which was Tk900-1000 before, has now reached Tk1,600-1,800, said passengers. 

Asadullah Wakif, a private university student in Dhaka, came to buy a ticket for a Satkhira-bound bus at Kalyanpur Bus Counter. 

“I tarvelled to Satkhira last Eid after buying a bus ticket for Tk1,100. The buses charge extra fares when Eid comes. Khulna-bound buses are also charging Tk200-300 more,” he told TBS.

On the Dhaka-Thakurgaon-Panchagarh route, the regular fare per seat is Tk750-800, which has now increased to Tk1,200-1,600. Also, the buses of branded transport companies are charging an additional Tk200-400.

Talking to passengers on various routes from Dhaka, it was learned that the extra fare per bus seat stands at Tk250-450 on Dhaka-Noakhali route, Tk100-350 on Dhaka-Barishal route, Tk150-200 on Dhaka-Jamalpur route, Tk100-150 on Dhaka-Habiganj and Dhaka-Moulvibazar routes, and Tk200-300 on Dhaka-Bogura route.

Change is not possible? 

Secretary General of Jatri Kalyan Samity Mozammel Haque Chowdhury told TBS, “During Eid, the transport companies charge higher fares. But the problem is that neither the government nor the transport owners admit it.”

Mentioning a lack of monitoring from the government, he said, “Change is not possible without structural reforms in the transport sector. We are stuck in a vicious cycle.”

However, Road Transport Owners Association of Bangladesh Vice President Mahbubur Rahman told TBS that their monitoring against the additional fare collection is ongoing. 

“Banners against overcharging have been put up at every counter. A hotline has been launched for passenger complaints.

“There were some irregularities once, but now those have stopped.”