Desk Report:

The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has recommended reducing bus fares by 3 paisa per kilometre following the reduction in oil prices.

The committee responsible for fixing bus fares made the recommendation at a meeting held at the BRTA headquarters in the capital on Monday (April 1).

After the recommendation bus owners also agreed to the proposal.

BRTA Chairman Nur Mohammad Mazumder said the recommendation will be sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges today and the new fare will come into effect if the government issues a circular in this regard.

As per the recommendation, long-distance bus fares should be fixed at Tk2.12 instead of Tk2.15 per kilometre, while in Dhaka and Chattogram cities, the fares should be set at Tk2.42 instead of Tk2.45 per kilometre.

The government on Sunday set the automated retail prices of petroleum fuel for the month of April with effect from Monday.

As per the new price list, the diesel and kerosene will be sold at Tk106 per litre instead of the previous price at Tk108.25, lowered by Tk2.25 per litre.

The prices of octane and petrol have been kept unchanged at Tk126 and Tk122 per litre, respectively.

The first automated price came into effect on 8 March. Diesel and kerosene prices were re-fixed then at Tk108.25 per litre lowering by 75 paisa from Tk109 per litre.

Besides, octane price was reset at Tk126 reducing by Tk4 from Tk130 per litre, while the price of petrol was fixed at Tk122 per litre lowering by Tk3 from Tk125 per litre.