Staff Correspondent:

A staggering Tk832.30 crore is being overcharged as “Eid tips” or extra fares this Eid-ul-fitr, according to a report by the Bangladesh Passenger Welfare Association.

Approximately 22.74 crore trips are expected across road, rail, water, and air transport in and around Dhaka between 20 March to 31 March for Eid travels.

At a press conference held on Wednesday (March 26) at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity, the organisation’s Secretary-General Mozammel Haque Chowdhury presented the findings. He stated that an estimated 1.5 crore people would leave Dhaka for their hometowns during Eid.

Photo: Collected

Despite efforts by government agencies to ensure a smooth and safe travel experience, passengers are still being overcharged. The monitoring committees, which include transport owners but exclude passenger representatives, have failed to prevent this fare exploitation.

The association found that 98% of public transport services are involved in overcharging, even though drivers, assistants, and other transport staff already received their salaries and Eid bonuses from daily fare collections.

Several factors contribute to the fare extortion, including rising commodity prices, bribery and extortion in the transport sector, additional costs imposed by transport companies, extra Eid bonuses collected from passengers, and greedy transport owners seeking excessive profits, said Mozammel Haque Chowdhury.

The study indicates that water transport will see the highest passenger volume. Around 40 lakh passengers will travel from Sadarghat, Narayanganj River Port, and other terminals via 200 small and large vessels. Overcharging ranges from 50 to 1,000 taka per passenger, with an average extra charge of Tk200 per person, amounting to an additional Tk800 crore.

To tackle this fare exploitation, Mozammel Haque suggests implementing digital fare collection to eliminate cash transactions, installing CCTV surveillance on highways, and ensuring strict law enforcement against overcharging. Without action, he warns that the extra fares will lead to economic strain, social unrest, corruption, and increased road accidents, disproportionately affecting low-income passengers.