To reduce the city’s local bus fare anarchy the authorities concerned are bringing more buses under the e-ticketing system. Earlier eight local bus companies were brought under this system experimentally.
From next Sunday buses of 30 another companies would be introduced under e-ticketing system in the capital’s Mirpur area.
Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association Secretary General Khandkar Enayet Ullah said this at a press conference organized by the association on ‘E-ticketing system launched in capital Dhaka’s public transport’ held in the capital on Saturday.
Khandkar Enayet Ullah said that from January 31, 2023, buses of 60 different companies would be operating in Dhaka city and from February 28, another 97 bus companies in Dhaka and Dhaka suburbs will be operated under e-ticketing system.
He said, “We have been receiving complaints for a long time regarding the collection of additional bus fares. Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association is working to eliminate them. At present, a total of 97 bus companies operate public bus transports in Dhaka city and its suburbs. We have met with them several times. A total of 21 circulars have been issued at various times.”
“Nine vigilance teams are performing duty on the streets for months and I myself was in the field for a long time. Regarding the issue of realizing excess bus fares, we could not resolve the issues on many occasion. After a long time now we were able to stop ‘gate lock’ service, ‘seating’ service. But still the issue of realizing excess bus fares came up again and again in our complaint,” he added.
The Secretary General of Dhaka Road Transport Owners Association said that the e-ticketing system was introduced from last September 22 to stop the collection of additional fares. At that time it was first introduced experimentally in eight bus companies of Mirpur.
“After going through this method, it was found that the owners were not getting the income properly. Many of them were not showing interest in the public bus transport business in this way as their income reduced substantially. After talking to them, the e-ticketing machine was given inside the bus. By doing that experimentally, the results were found to be very positive and better than previous experiences. This increased the income of the owners,” Enayet Ullah added further.
He said, “We are bringing 30 companies in Mirpur under this ticketing from tomorrow - Sunday. All preparations have been made for this. All the work has already been completed through the central committee of Mirpur (bus) Malik Samiti. All public buses plying within Dhaka city will be brought under e-ticketing by January 31.
When e-tickets are introduced, the number of vehicles decreases, the suffering of passengers’ increases - when asked about this, Khandaker Enayet Ullah said that this complaint is absolutely correct. In the beginning when we started offering e-ticketing on the roads, the owners were not getting enough income. As a result the owners were not enthusiastic to run the vehicles on the roads. Later we discussed with the common owners and decided to provide the e-ticketing machine inside the buses.
