Government revenue from vehicle registration has increased significantly.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), the government earnings increased due to the rapid registration of vehicles, especially motorcycles.
BRTA information showed Tk 1,307.40 crore from vehicle registration in the last 10 years. On an average, 434 vehicles are registered in Dhaka every day. Of which 262 are motorcycles and 41 are private cars.
After motorcycles, private cars are the most used in Dhaka city. There are 368831 private cars registered in Dhaka. Of these, 12403 new ones have been added in the year 2020.
BRTA officials said, as the government has reduced the registration fees, people are becoming more interested to complete their registration procedure after purchasing their vehicles.
Regarding the rationale for reducing the motorcycle registration fee, BRTA Director (Registration Branch) Engineer Shitangshu Shekhar Biswas said, “The motorcycle registration fee in our country is comparatively higher than in neighboring countries. As a result, many owners do not register considering the fee. The main purpose of reducing the registration fee is to bring more vehicles under registration”.
Consumers also think that as a result of this initiative of BRTA, the amount of revenue will also increase, and discipline on the roads will return.
Experts believe that the choice of motorcycles as a daily means of transportation can reduce traffic congestion in the capital. The reason for the growing popularity of motorcycles in the city is that they can travel with little space even during traffic jams. However, they have also termed motorcycles as a risky vehicle.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Road and Accident Research Institute (ARI) Director Md. Hadiuzzaman said, “The number of motorbikes in the analysis of road infrastructure in Bangladesh is much higher. According to a study, Bangladesh has the highest number of motorcycle accidents in Asia”.
The number of private car registrations in Dhaka steadily declined to 12,403 last year. In 2019, the number was 16779. At the same time, outside Dhaka, this number decreased from 21,959 to 16,063.
According to the BRTA, the total number of registered vehicles in the country since independence till 2020 was 43.01 lakh. Of these, about 15.28 lakh vehicles have been registered in Dhaka.
In 2016, BRTA earned more than Tk 208.13 crore from the registration of 315069 motorcycles. In 2017, against 325876, Tk 185.87 crore, in 2019, against 414052, more than Tk 253.81 and in 2020, more than Tk 210.19 crore has been earned from 311018 motorcycles. And in the first two months of this year, the number of registered motorcycles has exceeded 65,000.