Bangladesh’s passenger rights body has proposed raising bus fares by 8 poisha per kilometre on long-distance routes and 10 poisha on city services following the government’s latest fuel price increase.
The Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association also proposed increasing launch fares by 5 poisha per nautical mile, while accusing government agencies of holding closed-door meetings with transport owners without adequately consulting passengers.
In an emergency statement issued to the media on Tuesday, the association’s secretary general, Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, said fuel price increases would inevitably put pressure on public transport fares but argued that any adjustment should be based on transparent calculations of additional operating costs.
He alleged that government ministries and agencies were negotiating fare increases mainly with bus and launch owners while excluding representatives of passengers, the largest group affected by the changes.
“The government agencies concerned are holding repeated closed-door meetings with bus and launch owners, while representatives of passengers are being left out,” the association said.
It also alleged that the practice had continued from the previous government, with transport owners receiving disproportionate benefits from fuel price adjustments.
The association said the authorities should publicly disclose how much transport operators’ costs had increased and how the proposed fare adjustments had been calculated.
It argued that fare-setting decisions should be based on the actual increase in operating costs rather than being agreed solely between transport owners and government agencies.
The latest proposals come after Bangladesh raised the prices of diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane by Tk 20 a litre, citing higher international fuel prices, freight and insurance costs amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
The passenger group said some fare adjustment was reasonable after the fuel price increase, but called for greater transparency and participation by passenger representatives in the process.