10 times fine for ticketless metro rail travellers

The Cabinet has endorsed a draft law that proposes to fine ticketless metro rail travellers ten times the price of the ticket they did not buy.

The offender will land in jail for six months if they are unable to pay the fine.

The draft of ‘Metro Rail Act 2014’ was passed in the regular Monday meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The Tk 220 billion project to build Dhaka’s first metro rail is expected to be complete by 2019.

Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said after the meeting that a ‘special provision’ was there in the Act for land acquisition.

“Government’s priority project metro rail (MRT-6) will be operated by Mass Transit Company Limited. Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) will be in charge of the project,” he said.

Any future project of this nature will also come under the purview of the Act, the cabinet secretary added.

“If any other company (public/private) wishes operate the metro rail in future it will have to obtain licence. A committee, led by DTCA executive director, will be in charge of providing licence.

“However, a public enterprise won’t have to pay the licence fee.”

JICA, the agency that coordinates development assistance for the government of Japan, will provide Tk 165.95 billion for the mass transit system. The government will fund the rest.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader already had spoken of the plans to start the metro rail service from Uttara Third Phase to Agargaon within 2019.

The government is hoping this project will play a huge role in solving the city's traffic congestion and transportation problems.

Cabinet Secretary Bhuiyan said the proposed Act outlined ticket fare, appointment of inspectors, penalties for accident and violation of laws.

The draft stated a DTCA committee will determine the fare and will also appoint inspectors.

Insurance for the metro rail and passengers had been made mandatory, said Bhuiyan.

Provisions of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of Tk 10 million have been kept for someone who will break the law.

“There has been a provision for 10 years’ imprisonment and a penalty of Tk 10 million for transferring licence without permission and two years in jail and Tk 200,000 fine for disrupting operations.”

Apart from that, if someone thwarts the construction and maintenance of a metrorail or if a person trespasses in restricted areas, he or she will be liable for a year in prison and a fine of Tk 500,000.

If someone breaches security of the metrorail, the person will face a jail term of five years and a fine of Tk 5 million, the Act further says.

The secretary said provision for penalties of 10 years in prison and Tk 10 million in fine had been kept in the draft Act if someone used fake tickets.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in 2012.

The under-construction Metro Rail Line-6 will go through Mirpur-Farmgate, starting from Uttara and ending at Motijheel. The trip will take less than 40 minutes.

The project’s 16 metro rail stations will be at Uttara (North), Uttara (Centre), Uttara (South), Pallabi, IMT, Mirpur 10, Kaziparha, Taltala, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Sonargaon, National Museum, Doel Chattar, Bangabandhu National Stadium and Bangladesh Bank.

The metro rail can carry with 1800 passengers every four minutes, transiting 60000 people every hour, says the government.