'Cancel route permits if vehicles charge extra fare'

Road Transport and Bridges Ministry issued a new directive asking the authorities concerned to cancel registration and route permits as there are growing allegations of overcharging and violation of health guidelines since the resumption of public transport following two months of shutdown.

Yousub Ali Mollah, acting chairman of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), on Wednesday (June 10)  said, "We received a directive regarding this from the road transport and highway division yesterday."

The directive issued by the ministry said media reports show "some bus operators" are charging extra fare from passengers and are not following health safety guidelines.

In this situation, apart from carrying out mobile court drives against errant vehicles, a decision has been taken to cancel registration and route permit of those vehicles as per the Road Transport Act-2018, reads the order.

BRTA was asked to inform the ministry after taking action.

On June 1, the government increased bus fares by 60 percent on the condition that bus operators will carry passengers at 50 percent capacity and will follow other health safety guidelines.

Dhaka/Hasibul/AI