The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Leaders of Passengers Right, a non-political organisation, yesterday demanded of the government to formulate new rules for regulating Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) run bus fares.

They said that if the new rules were implemented than the fares of CNG run buses would be drastically reduced which would lessen the financial burden on the passengers.

They also called upon the Government to ban all diesel run buses in Dhaka and Chittagong and ensure compensations for the road accident victims.

Their observation came at a press conference held at a city hotel. Kutub Uddin Ahmed, senior president of the organisation read out a written statement. It was also attended, among others, by Lion engineer Shahjahan Ahmed, President, Muslehuddin Masud, general secretary, senior presidents engineer M Monzurul Haq, M A Karim and MH Babul and Asaduzzaman Biplob, organising secretary of the organisation.

They alleged that after increase of CNG price buses of different routes have also increased fares from 40 per cent to 60 per cent that cause financial losses of the passengers.

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA's) has fixed at Tk 0.87 per kilometre bus fare of 12 kilometres distance between Dhaka and Narayanganj route. According to that fixation the bus fare should be at Tk 10.44 for per passenger.

But the owners of the CNG run buses had previously realised Tk 16 from per passenger. After the recent increase of CNG price the fare has jumped to Tk 24, which is too high for the passengers.

They placed several points of demand that include giving financial compensation to the family members of decreased BIRDEM employee Abdul Mannan, who had died from a fatal road accident, taking actions against those creating anarchy in the transport sector and initiatives to turn the BRTA as a real public service oriented organisation.