'Some clauses of ride sharing policy needs review'

A roundtable titled ‘Ride Sharing Services Policy 2017: Application, limitations and solutions’ is held at the Prothom Alo conference room at CA Bhaban in the capital on Tuesday. Photo: Prothom Alo
A roundtable titled ‘Ride Sharing Services Policy 2017: Application, limitations and solutions’ is held at the Prothom Alo conference room at CA Bhaban in the capital on Tuesday. Photo: Prothom Alo


Some of the clauses in the Ride Sharing Services Policy 2017 needs to be reviewed for the sake of the growing ride-sharing industry, stakeholders said at a roundtable on Tuesday.

Clauses like ‘one-driver one-application’, ‘no vehicle that is less than a year old' and ‘data storage inside national boundary’ needed further review, they observed at the roundtable titled ‘Ride Sharing Services Policy 2017: Application, limitations and solutions’ at the Prothom Alo conference room at CA Bhaban in the capital.

Addressing the roundtable, Hussain Mohammad Ilias, managing director and CEO of Pathao, said, “We see this policy positively, but for the sake of the vision Digital Bangladesh, a number of things need change.”

The authorities, sometimes, are worried about the number of vehicles. But, nothing is to be worried about as Bangladesh now has only 600,000 registered motorbikes while India has 15 million and Vietnam has 30 million, said Mohammad Ilias.

"The policy says a car has to be more than a year old to join the ride sharing platforms. But the customers want new vehicles. There is another clause that says ‘one-driver one-application’. A vehicle is not active all through the day. It is basically a part-time service. It will discourage the users," he added.

"The policy also says vehicles registered outside Dhaka will not be allowed to use the platform. But already there is a scarcity. This will affect the supply," he further said.

"The policy wants to bring the services under the VAT net. It will hamper the growth of the new industry,” he observed.

Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), said, “It’s an interesting sector. But, policy should be through discussion and there should be short-term and medium-term approach.

“I’ve just heard that the number of cars has decreased, but the number of bikes has increased. Increasing number of bikes link to pedestrian safety. The pedestrian testimony is not welcoming in this regard.

“I think the one-driver one-app issue would be reviewed. The authorities are concerned on the management of the huge number of vehicles. This should be on the table for discussion as well. Besides, the data-offshoring and data on-shoring should be addressed, too.” he added.

Maliha Kadir, managing director of Shohoz, said, "It is a good policy, no doubt. But, we should also keep in mind that it is not a taxi service. It’s micro-entrepreneurship."

She said, let everybody in and let decide the market forces what and how they want it.

Kaniz Fatema Mitu, a user of the ride-sharing services, said, “I live in an area from where there is no direct public transport service to my office. So, I’ve to use the ride-sharing services.”

“I feel secured and it has brought changes in my lifestyle in Dhaka.”

Kazi Md Aminul Islam, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), said, “I see it as an option. If I don’t want to use bus or my car I’ve an option. It’s a freedom. I think a democratic government has a duty to expand the space of freedom in the public life.”

“My involvement with ride-sharing is long. When Uber first came to Dhaka, it was illegal. I went to the BRTA with the Uber people. I talked to them and said - the law is for the people, let’s change it for the people again. The government is cooperative and this policy is a clear indication of that."

“The policy might have some mistakes. We do not want monopoly either. The market should be competitive,” Aminul Islam said.

Shahadat Hossain, owner of a vehicle, said the clause 'one-driver one-app' clashes with the idea of freelancing.

“Suppose, if any company tries to exploit us, as a user we won’t have any option. It’ll discourage us,” he added.

"The clause that may bar vehicles registered outside Dhaka from using the platform also needs review. It may be for controlling the traffic, but this cap will not help the people outside Dhaka as the unemployment problem is acute there."

"So, I would like to request BRTA to focus on proper licensing," he further said.

"Then there is the issue of income tax return. As it is a part time job, we do not have evaluation and it is not possible for us either," Shahadat added.

Another user said, "We three colleagues used three vehicles previously, but now after the arrival of the ride sharing services, we jointly use one vehicle."

Lokman Hossain Molla, director of Bangladesh Road Transportation Authority (BRTA), said, “We don’t have any baseline survey. We have done this on the basis of some assumptions. There may have been some errors. When the errors were noticed, those were tabled in the intra-ministry meetings.”

“On behalf of the BRTA, we have already updated some issues on certification. If any changes come from this meeting, that would be redesigned. We are going online for the sake of transparency.

"The main thing is that the government is very positive. It is part-time for the drivers and owners, but it is full time for companies,” Lokman said.

Hussain Mamtaz, programmer at BRTA, said a clause said the storage should be inside the country. As there is no service, they use Google.

“We have put this provision, thinking future investment of Google and Amazon. It can be for a transitional period,” he added.

Nazmul Islam, additional deputy commissioner, cyber security and crime unit, said, “Apps have data, so there is question of security of people. It should be ensured.”

“I’ll urge the companies to remain alert as hackers see everything. Please use disclaimer in a proper way before taking information from them,” he added.

Asif Saleh, senior director (strategy, communication and empowerment) at BRAC, and Naeem Ashraf, team leader of Startup Bangladesh, also spoke.