Owners want launch fares raised by 100% after diesel price rise

Bus fares have been raised by as much as 22 percent after a fuel price hike

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 7 August 2022, 03:53 PM
Updated : 7 August 2022, 03:53 PM

Launch owners want to raise fares by 100 percent following a hike in fuel oil prices.

After a 23 percent hike in diesel price, launch fares were increased by more than 35 percent in November 2021.

This time the government has raised diesel price by 42.5 percent to Tk 114 per litre, leading the authorities to increase bus fares by as much as 22 percent.

Bangladesh Launch Owners Association finalised the proposal on increasing fares and sent it to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority on Sunday.

The association leaders would meet BIWTA officials on Monday, said Jahangir Alam, a spokesman for the shipping ministry.

After a meeting of the association, its President Mahbub Uddin Ahmed said they proposed the fares be hiked to Tk 4.6 per kilometre.

They also proposed to lift the threshold of fares for the first 100 kilometres of a trip.

Mahbub said other operational costs increased while the number of passengers fell due to the Padma Bridge.

“We will die if fares are not raised,” he said.