Jatri Kalyan Samity demands withdrawal of 60% increased bus fare

Jatri Kalyan Samity, a platform for passengers' welfare, urged the government Sunday to withdraw the previously imposed 60 percent increased bus fares at the end of the ongoing lockdown.

Additionally, it demanded to abolish the previous directive of carrying passengers half the vehicle capacity.

"When the government instructed to increase 60 percent fare, public transport owners had doubled or quadrupled the fare in some places," Secretary-General of the organisation Mozammel Haque Chowdhury said in a Facebook Live session from his page.

He also demanded the proper implementation of said rules must be ensured by the deploying Bangladesh Army to monitor if necessary.

"We need to understand that the outbreak of coronavirus has affected the public transport owners as well as the passengers financially," he added.

Mozammel also noted that the government should have taken initiatives to ensure that those who are living in villages stay in villages and those from the cities do the same.

"Lockdowns needed to be tightened and relief or money should have been delivered to the common people so that they stay indoors. As this was not possible, the government may be forced to open public transport considering people's livelihood," he said.

Mozammel expressed hope that the government will be more responsible after observing the ongoing Covid-19 situation in India.