Bangladesh Road Minister Warns Bus Companies: Routes at Risk Over Poor Service Quality

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam has warned that bus companies operating in Dhaka must improve passenger services, safety and discipline within a specified period or risk being replaced, having their routes cancelled, or facing government-run bus operations.

The minister made the remarks on Monday at a meeting with bus owners under the Bus Route Rationalisation programme at the Road Bhaban auditorium in Tejgaon.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam said bus companies, rather than individual owners, would be held accountable for vehicle standards, passenger services and operational discipline.

“I will not recognise any bus owner; I will recognise the company,” he said. “The bus operates under your company. If an owner fails to properly maintain a bus, if passenger convenience is not ensured, if drivers do not comply with instructions and employees do not maintain discipline, you will have to take responsibility for that bus.”

Bus companies should remove buses belonging to owners who fail to meet required standards, he said.

“No one has the opportunity to conduct business by challenging the state or the management system,” the minister said. “We will seek these changes within a specified period. Otherwise, if necessary, we will form new companies. If quality services still cannot be ensured, we will try to take measures from the government level by cancelling the route.”

Responding to bus owners’ concerns over losses, Sheikh Rabiul Alam said service standards must improve before any adjustment of fares could be considered.

The government would discuss fare adjustments where necessary if operators could ensure passenger safety, discipline and comfortable travel, he said.

“Ensure quality passenger transport. Ensure safety and discipline. Create an environment that encourages people to use buses,” he said. “If necessary, we will sit together. If you incur losses, we will examine them. Entrepreneurs must be sustained, and they also need a certain level of profit.”

The minister said demands for higher fares without better services were unacceptable. Businesses were not guaranteed to continue simply because they did not generate expected profits, he added.

“You are selling a service and should make a reasonable profit from it,” he said. “But you cannot demand higher fares from passengers without improving the quality of service.”

Sheikh Rabiul Alam also said a policy was being prepared to regulate the movement of charging autorickshaws on Dhaka’s major roads. Such vehicles would be allowed to operate within designated areas and rules, while their movement could be restricted in important roads and areas.

Effective measures on the matter would be taken soon, he said.

The minister said initiatives would also be taken to issue driving licences quickly to suitable drivers. Bus companies would have to identify skilled, trained and physically and mentally fit drivers and send them to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, or BRTA.

Drivers must know the rules and possess the skills required to operate the relevant vehicles, he said.

“Identify and send suitable drivers,” Sheikh Rabiul Alam said. “Ensure that they know how to drive, know the rules and are physically and mentally fit. We will arrange tests and issue licences.”

The minister said the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, or DTCA, would be assigned to identify bus stops across Dhaka and improve their standards.

Route-based bus companies would need to work with the DTCA to identify bus stops, after which city corporations would take initiatives to make them passenger-friendly, he said.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam advised bus companies to reduce operational expenses and charges collected from owners in order to improve service standards. Fees and other costs charged to owners for adding new or better buses could be reduced, he said.

“You may not be able to earn as much as you did three or four months ago,” he said. “But reduce unethical collections. If high vehicle booking fees are charged from owners, or excessive amounts are collected per trip, reduce those. Improve bus services.”

The minister said transport owners had a responsibility as entrepreneurs to improve bus services and the living standards of workers. The government wanted to bring change in cooperation with transport owners, but would not tolerate irregularities, negligence or non-cooperation.

“All changes cannot be made in one day or one month,” he said. “But the government will not retreat from this initiative. Owners will be given the opportunity to develop, but irregularities and mismanagement will not be accepted.”