Launch fare rises 30pc

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Tuesday increased launch fare by 30 per cent. The fare increased from Tk 2.30 to Tk 3 per kilometre for a distance of 100km and for all extra km passengers need to pay Tk 2.60 per km, which was Tk 2 previously, according to a Shipping Ministry notification.

The minimum fare for passengers is now Tk 33 which was Tk 28. The new fare will be effective from Tuesday.

Earlier on August 7, launch owners want the government to increase fare by 100 per cent, though the price of diesel hiked by 42.5 per cent.

Launch owners have sent a letter to the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) demanding the hike, chairman of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Passenger Carriers Association Chairman Mahbub Uddin Ahmed confirmed The Business Post.

Shipping ministry Senior Information and Public Relations Officer Md Jahangir Alam Khan said that the secretary of the ministry will hold a meeting with the owners at the ministry on August 8 to fix the fare.

Owners said they sought the hundred per cent increase, which they never sought before when price of the fuel increased in the past, as prices of some other components needed to operate launches have increased as well.

In the letter sent to the BIWTA the owners said they want the fare at Tk 4.60 per kilometre within hundred kilometres distance, and Tk 4.00 for more than 100 kilometres distance.

On August 5, the government increased fuel prices amid the volatility in the global market. Diesel and kerosene retail prices were fixed at Tk 114 per litre while octane at Tk 135 a litre and petrol at Tk 130 per litre.

Following the fuel price hike, on August 6, the government increased long-haul bus fares by 22 per cent from Tk 1.8 per km to Tk 2.2, while the bus fares in Dhaka and Chattogram metropolitans were increased by 16.27 per cent from Tk 2.15 per km to Tk 2.5.