Due to indiscriminate corruption of some crooked officials of Biman Bangladesh Airlines the national flag carrier has again come back to its long track record of incurring loss after a brief period of gaining profit. Different level Biman officials have taken 45,000 international and domestic air tickets for free in last 10 years causing huge loss to the state-owned organization.
They procured those tickets in some case at 95 percent commission and in most of the cases at 100 percent commission. A recent meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry revealed it. It was learned that an official alone took 87 air tickets, while two other officials took 68 tickets and 50 tickets for themselves respectively.
The corrupt officials took those tickets in the name of their family members’ tour. But it is alleged that they sell those tickets illegally to earn money. On 23 April this year two high officials of Biman were made officers on special duty (OSD) on charges of embezzling around Taka 16 crore from free tickets. One of the accused officials had told the Biman authorities that he distributed around 2472 free tickets on London-Dhaka-London route for advertisement purpose. But it was alleged that he sold those tickets in exchange of money from passengers.
Due to the on going illegal practice of taking unlimited number of free tickets by the Biman officials, the state-owned agency incurring heavy loss while the government is also losing huge revenue.Now the concerned ministry is trying to find a permanent solution to this evil and illegal practice. Through a letter on Monday the ministry wanted to know from the Biman authorities if there is such rule that allow its officials to receive air ticket on 100 percent commission.
Civil Aviation and Tourism secretary Md Muhibul Haque said that the ministry was informed about this and a letter is already sent to the Biman to know the exact figure and on which rules they have received tickets on 100 percent commission.“We will ask Biman to reform its regulation. If such practice continues, Biman will face prolonged financial crisis,” he added.
The government is continuing its endeavor to make the national flag carrier profitable. The government is trying to improve the online ticketing system, enrich service quality and ensure passenger security, he added.“As per Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s directives we are in a strong position to eliminate corruption and irregularities from the organization,” he further said.
However, Biman acting managing director and CEO Captain Farhat Hassan told media media that based on job status Biman officials get ticket on commission. Biman incurred a loss of around Taka 200 crore in FY 2017-2018. It made profit three years in a row before FY 2017-2018.