Buses in Dhaka continued to charge extra fares on Sunday, ignoring the government set fare charts, passengers complained.

Many buses did not hang fare charts inside and were running as ‘seating and gate-lock services’ at places, they said.

Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association leaders on Wednesday said no buses would run as ‘gate-lock or seating services’ in the capital, but some buses in the capital did not follow the instruction.

The government on November 7 increased the fares by 27 per cent for diesel-run buses bowing to the demand of transport owners, who went on a strike following a hike in diesel price.  

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority was conducting special mobile courts in Dhaka and Chattogram metropolitan cities from November 9 mostly against the charging of extra fares than the government fixed fare.

Ten mobile courts of the BRTA in Dhaka and Chattogram fined 198 diesel-run and 49 CNG-run buses around Tk 2.8 lakh on Sunday and sent one bus to the dumping station for charging higher fares and for running seating services.

With this, between November 9 and November 14, the mobile courts of the BRTA in Dhaka and Chattogram fined a total of 1,542 buses, including 1,255 diesel-run and 287 CNG-run buses around Tk 16 lakh for charging higher fares and other offences.

Kajol Ahmed, a passenger of Thikana Paribahan said that he was charged Tk 95 instead of Tk 70 from Jahangirnagar University to Signboard.

‘The bus contractor took the money without showing the government set fare chart. Though the seating services were lifted and the buses were made local the fare was yet to come down,’ he added.

Another passenger named Mohammad Kamal Hossain at Bhuiyan Paribahan said that he was charged Tk 15 instead of Tk 10 from Mohammadpur Japan Garden City to Shyamoli.

Buses of Basumati Transport Limited, Bhuiyan Paribahan Limited, Savar Paribahan Limited, Labbaik Paribahan and others were seen running in the capital locking their gates.

Bus driver’s assistant Din Islam of Alif Paribahan on a Mohammadpur route said that their buses were running as seating service.

An official of Alif Paribahan named Sajib was seen signing a paper opposite to Shyamoli Club Playground.

Asked about the matter, he, however, said, ‘We are not running our bus as seating service. But, we signed the paper to the number of passengers to our owners’. A large number of buses did not mark whether they were being run-on diesel or CNG.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association organising secretary and Bikalpa Auto Services managing director, Mahbubur Rahman, acknowledged that despite their repeated warnings some bus operators continued to run buses as ‘seating and gate-lock services.’

A mobile court in the Kalabagan area in the capital took action against some Bhuiyan and Alif Paribahan buses while the association leaders also put black colour on the seating and gate-lock tags on some buses.

BRTA deputy director (enforcement) Md Hemayet Uddin told New Age that they were conducting special mobile courts along with the representatives of transport owners and workers’ associations.

The mobile courts were mainly fining the buses instead of seizing and dumping those considering public interest, he said.