‘Bus fare is Tk 776, but they took Tk 1250’

Md Yusuf Ali works at a private medical company in Dhaka. On Friday morning, he arrived at the capital’s Gabtoli Inter-district Bus Terminal to return to his home in Rangpur’s Pirganj. After returning empty handed from Hanif and Shyamoli bus counters, he purchased a ticket from Ahad Enterprise. The official price of the ticket is Tk 776, but he had to pay Tk 1,250.

Yusuf Ali told Prothom Alo, “The bus fare is actually Tk 776. But they took Tk 1,250 from me. They refused to take any less. I had no other option so I bought it. I have to go home for Eid.”

Yusuf Ali was waiting for his bus in front of the Ahad Enterprise counter, which was closed. In the fare list hung in front of the counter, it was written that bus fare from Dhaka to Rangpur is Tk 776.

Yusuf Ali further said, his wife and child went to Rangpur last Friday. They had to spend Tk 700 as bus fare.

The Gabtoli bus terminal on Friday wasn’t congested with passengers as it usually is during the Eid season. The majority of the tickets have been sold in advanced, only a limited amount of tickets are up for sale at the counters. The remaining tickets are being sold at higher rates, complained several passengers.

Kurigram’s Kabir Hossain, who works at a bookbinding factory, complained that Shyamoli Paribahan’s Rangpur-bound bus asked for Tk 1,300 for a ticket.

He said, he arrived at the bus terminal before 8:30 AM. Then he found out that the Kurigram-bound Haque Paribahan doesn’t have any buses available. He then looked for a local bus, without any success. He didn’t purchase the ticket from Shyamoli Paribahan after they asked for Tk 1,300 as bus fare.

The counter master at one of Shyamoli Paribahan’s Rangpur-bound Gabtoli bus terminals, Md Nasir said, “Our Rangpur tickets have already sold out. We are not selling anymore tickets.”

At noon, Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection conducted a raid at the bus terminal. Shyamoli Paribahan was fined Tk 500.

Minister of road transport and bridges Obaidul Quader visited the Gabtoli Bus Terminal in the morning. During his visit, he was told by a journalist that Selfie Paribahan is asking for Tk 300 for a Tk 150 fare. They are doing this right under the noses of the administration. On the other hand, the employees in bus counters are saying that police sergeants are taking Tk 1000 bribe on average for each bus trip. Obaidul Quader said, “One or two incidents may have happened. Our people are keeping an eye on things at all times. If something like this happens, we will definitely look into it.”