Published in Dhaka Tribune on Sunday, 19 October 2014.
Commuters caught in CNG autorickshaw drivers’ whim
Rafe Sadnan Adel
It will be hard to find an autorickshaw driver in city who is ready to traverse a distance at the fare fixed by the government
A ride on a CNG-driven autorickshaw from Motijheel to Panthapath in the capital should not cost more than Tk100 even if the traffic is heavy. Every such autorickshaw has electronic meters installed on them that display the fare fixed by the government.
But it will be hard to find an autorickshaw driver in the city who is ready to traverse the distance at the fare calculated by the meter. A passenger will have to pay at least Tk200 for the ride. On rainy days or on days of extra heavy traffic, the fare may go up to as much as Tk250-Tk300.
A driver said the fare on the meter covered only a small fraction of their expenses, which include paying a part of their daily income to the owner of the autorickshaws, let alone leave them with any surplus. So, instead of following the meter, they ask for fares on their whims.
The driver said they could not follow the meter reading because the owners charge them hundreds of taka more than what the government had fixed as the daily deposit.
The daily deposit and the meter fare are considered in pair. The government generally fixes the meter fare in such a way that drivers are left with sizable incomes at the end of the day after paying the government-fixed daily deposit to the owners.
When asked why they charged more, an owner said the costs of operating the vehicles had increased manifold over the years but the government had not increased the daily deposit.
The authority in charge of the matter said they had no plan to increase the deposit or the fare for the time being.
So, the cycle turns vicious and the Dhaka commuters, who have very little or no comfortable public transport options, are badly stuck in it.
The Dhaka Tribune has talked to a number of drivers about why they charge passengers twice, often thrice, the government-fixed rate. They said not just the high daily deposits, but their incomes had not risen either in line with the ever increasing price of essentials. Moreover, they have to pay the traffic police a significant amount of their daily income as extortion.
Mofiz Mia from the capital’s Khilgaon area told the Dhaka Tribune: “I have to pay Tk600 to the owner if I drive an autorickshaw for half day [six hours]. If I drive it for the whole day that is 12 hours, he charges me Tk1,100. But the government has fixed only Tk600 for the whole day.
“We also need to pay Tk2,000 every month on an average in the forms of extortion and bribe to traffic police and sergeants. Add to that the repairing cost in case there is any accident. The owners do not pay for the repairing. So, you can understand that it is not possible for us to follow the government-fixed fare chart.”
Shamsher Sheikh is a driver from the capital’s Mirpur area who is the only earning member of a four-member family. While talking to the Dhaka Tribune, he described why he could not follow the government’s fare chart.
“Because of the terrible traffic on the roads of Dhaka we cannot help but charge passengers double the government-fixed rate. According to that rate, we can earn only Tk100 per hour. For a 12-hour working day, we can therefore earn maximum Tk1,200. But for driving the vehicle for 12 hours, we have to pay the owner more than Tk1,000. Add to that another Tk600 or so that we have to pay policemen every day. In our calculation, we need to earn at least Tk200 an hour to take something back at home,” he said.
It has been four years since the government last fixed the meter fare and the daily deposit amount for CNG-run autorickshaws. According to that rate, the fare for the first 2km is Tk25 and every kilometre afterwards costs Tk7.64. The waiting charge is Tk2 per minute. The government also fixed Tk600 as daily deposit, which is the income of the owners, for a 12-hour day.
Over the past few years, the owners have been demanding that the daily deposit amount be increased to Tk900.
According to a survey conducted by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) in 2009-2013, the price of essentials and services rose at the rate of 12% per annum. As a result, the average cost of living increased by 10.32% during the period.
Moreover, aggregate wages experienced a 12.92% rise over these five years in agriculture, fisheries and industries sectors. But the government has not thought about increasing the fare or deposit for the CNG-run autorickshaws.
Two separate reports by economic think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and global lender World Bank (WB) suggest that despite declining trends in recent years, the level of inflation in Bangladesh is still very high.
The inflation rates in Bangladesh in 2013 were 7.5% and 7.7% according to the WB and CPD respectively.
Barkatullah Bulu, president of the Dhaka Metropolitan CNG Autorickshaw Owners’ Association, told the Dhaka Tribune recently: “The government-fixed daily deposit amount has remained at Tk600 since 2010. It would not be very normal to think that the owners will keep the deposit at the level fixed five years ago, when during the same period the price of per kilogram of rice rose from Tk30 to Tk50.”
Claiming that he would have to start begging if he rented out his autorickshaws at the Tk600 rate, he said he had no other option but to raise the rate to Tk700 entirely on his own decision.
He also blamed the bureaucracy’s unwillingness for why they had failed to press home their demand for a higher deposit.
Earlier this year, during a meeting with the owners, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader categorically said there was no chance that the deposit amount would be increased anytime soon. At that time, the owners were in the middle of a movement demanding increased lifespan for the old autorickshaws.
Bulu also alleged that it would not be possible for them to carry on with their business for long if the law enforcers continued to harass them on roads.
“We have to pay at least Tk1,000 every day to law enforcers in the form of bribes. If, for any reason, one of our autorickshaws is confiscated, it takes at least two weeks to get it freed from police. These have also narrowed down the scope of profitable business and following all the regulations. In order to reduce losses, we have to increase the deposit and the drivers cannot follow the meter,” he explained.
However, Deputy Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed, head of one of the four traffic divisions of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said: “We do not have any specific allegation [regarding bribery and extortion]. CNG autorickshaws are fined whenever they break rules.”
Dr Ahsan Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute Bangladesh, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Policymakers should think about bringing competition in the CNG autorickshaw trade. In fact, the government can think about introducing a suitable alternative. That is in fact the only option to bring back discipline in this sector.”
He, however, said: “Then again, it is also true that living costs have been rising in line with the increasing prices of essentials. To bring harmony there, the fares should be updated – ideally, at two-year intervals.”