Bus operators allegedly collected around Tk5.62 crore in excess fares from nearly 234,000 Eid travellers on 26 monitored long-distance routes during the Eid-ul-Adha travel season, according to the Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Samity.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the passenger welfare organisation said it monitored 27 major long-haul routes out of nearly 850 operating across the country during Eid travel. It found fare irregularities on 26 of those routes.
The organisation said the Bangladesh Road Transport Owners’ Association had publicly promised not to charge extra fares during Eid.
However, the commitment was “almost universally violated”, with excessive fare collection continuing on both city and inter-district bus services.
According to the monitoring report, passengers travelling on the Dhaka-Khulna route paid Tk1,000 on 51-seat buses despite the government-approved fare being Tk541.
On the Dhaka-Patuakhali route, operators charged passengers Tk1,000 instead of the official Tk570 fare. Travellers on the Dhaka-Shariatpur route paid Tk 500 against the authorised fare of Tk233.
The report also highlighted several other routes where passengers faced steep overcharging. On the Dhaka-Barishal route, passengers paid Tk850 instead of Tk592. Travellers on the Dhaka-Madaripur route paid Tk500 against the approved Tk250 fare, while Dhaka-Bhanga passengers paid Tk400 instead of Tk200. On the Dhaka-Faridpur route, operators collected Tk500 although the approved fare stood at Tk300.
On inter-district routes from Chattogram, passengers travelling to Gaibandha paid Tk2,200 against the official Tk1,100 fare. Travellers on the Chattogram-Bogura route paid Tk1,800 instead of Tk1,000, the organisation said.
The association also alleged that some operators replaced official fare charts of 52-seat buses with charts meant for 40-seat vehicles to increase per-seat fares illegally. It further claimed that passengers travelling shorter distances were forced to pay full-route terminal fares.
Drivers and helpers told monitors that the lack of fixed salaries and Eid bonuses for transport workers contributed to the excessive fare collection.
Despite the widespread irregularities, the organisation said the situation appeared slightly better than during the previous Eid-ul-Fitr season due to stronger government warnings and pressure from transport owners’ bodies.
The organisation estimated that around 95 lakh people left Dhaka during Eid, while total inter-district travel nationwide may have reached nearly 3 crore passengers.
Jatri Kalyan Samity blamed the recurring problem on long-standing weaknesses in the transport sector. These included the absence of regulated wages for drivers, flawed fare collection systems and the dominance of transport owners’ and workers’ organisations in the government’s Eid travel monitoring committee.
The statement also said many low-income travellers were forced to avoid inflated fares by travelling on bus and train rooftops or in open trucks carrying goods, exposing themselves to serious safety risks.
The organisation called for digital fare payment systems in public transport to reduce cash-based irregularities. It also demanded proper salaries and bonuses for transport workers, installation of CC cameras with e-prosecution systems on highways and the removal of transport owners’ and workers’ representatives from the Eid monitoring committee. It said the government alone should oversee Eid travel monitoring activities.
