The ridesharing services in the capital and other cities have become almost reckless as they arbitrarily charge much higher fares than prescribed under the guideline in the absence of monitoring.
Not only that, the quality of these services has also significantly fallen these days as many of them push for offline services, said road transport experts and passengers.
According to rights activists, some corrupt government officials patronise such irregularities and indiscipline on roads in their own interest.
The government should bring the services under close monitoring to facilitate the passengers, said experts and activists.
Introduced in 2016, the app-based ridesharing services, particularly in Dhaka and other metropolitan cities, have since gained popularity and become a full-time earning source for many people.
But currently many passengers are complaining about excessive fare rates charged, particularly by cars, during busy hours.
‘Recently I saw that the fare for a Uber Premium from Dhanmondi 27 to the Banglamotor area was Tk 124 in the morning but it jumped to Tk 394 in the noon the same day,’ said Sonia Tabassum, a Dhanmondi resident.
There were also allegations made that the fare of an Uber car from Azmipur to Uttara even reached Tk 700 during peak hours.
Gatherings of motorcyclists at different road crossings in the capital offering offline services have become a common scene for quite some time.
In some cases, incidents of hijacking and even murder have marred these services.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on July 1, 2019 began to implement the Ridesharing Services Guideline 2017, which came into effect on March 8, 2018, allowing the commercial use of privately-owned vehicles.
As per the guideline, the fares of the private motor vehicles under the services would not be higher than the fares stipulated in the Taxicab Service Guidelines 2010.
Currently, 14 ridesharing companies are registered with the BRTA, having 25,023 vehicles with mandatory enlistment certificates while a huge number of vehicles registered under these companies are yet to get the certificate, said BRTA officials.
Passenger Welfare Association of Bangladesh secretary general Mozammel Haque Chowdhury alleged that the traffic management system in Bangladesh was corrupt.
‘Some of the unscrupulous traffic officials in the field promote or abet irregularities and indiscipline on roads in their own interest,’ he said, adding that when there is a chaotic situation on roads they can file cases against the ride service providers or realise money from them.
‘The authorities should not only take action against the culprit ridesharing companies for violation of rules but also against the dishonest government officials,’ he said, demanding strong monitoring of the ridesharing service providers.
Transport expert SM Salehuddin on Friday told that currently motorcycle ride services had become like rickshaw services as they made hard bargain with passengers to realise as much fare as possible from them.
He advised that the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority should monitor such errant vehicles while the authorities should also revise the fare rates for these services as traffic congestion on roads had become more severe over recent years.
In a response, Uber stated that the fare chart prescribed in the Taxicab Service Guidelines 2010 was revised by the BRTA in 2014, adding that Uber always complies with the local regulations while their trip fares never exceed the limit set by the government.
‘Besides, safety is of paramount importance to Uber and we strongly discourage off-platform trips as these have no accountability or safety support for either the passengers or the drivers,’ it further stated.
O Bhai Solutions Limited general manager AKM Fazli Elahi on Sunday said that if any driver did not use the app and took passengers offline, then it was not possible to track them.
‘We urge both the drivers and the passengers to use the service online for their own safety,’ he added.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police additional commissioner for traffic Md Munibur Rahman on Monday said that when the traffic police worked on a spot they had to look after all traffic-related issues, including congestion.
‘Sometimes some of the motorcyclists take advantage of the situation and take passengers offline,’ he said.
If, he further said, they receive any evidence-based allegation against any traffic police allowing any driver to have taken passenger offline in own interest they will take immediate action.
BRTA chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder on Friday said that they had recently held a meeting with the ridesharing companies to ask them to follow the rules.
