Launch owners to make a mint during Eid

Launch owners are realising the exorbitant fares from passengers travelling on river 28 major routes to and from Barisal. At least 224 launches ply in the routes, passengers and sources among transport workers said.

One-way launch fares on Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route were Tk 50 to 80 on deck, TK 300 for non-AC single cabin and 500 for double cabin. More Tk 100 was charged for AC cabins.

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Launch owners are now charging up to TK.100 for deck, Tk 500 for non-AC single cabin, Tk 800 for non-AC double cabin, Tk 600 for AC single cabin and 900 for AC double cabin.

But cabin tickets were not available in most of the counters since Friday. Clerks said all have been sold in advance.

Some passengers this correspondent talked to said they paid almost double the fares but the amounts were not written in the tickets. Only "paid" is written on tickets.

According to sources in launch workers association, at least 112 launches ply on the Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal route with average 30 cabins per launch. The owners will earn at least Tk one core 12 lakh from about 3,360 cabins by raising the fares during the Eid, they said.

But some launch owners said the enhanced fare is still less than the government-fixed fare. As per the government-fixed rate, one-way fare from Barisal to Dhaka is Tk 123 for deck and four times more for cabin.

There is an exception. Unbelievable though, one company -- Crescent-Star Navigation-- did not charge extra fare till Friday.

Bus owners have also increased fares by at least fifty per cent in all routes from the divisional city. About 100 coaches ply on different routes.

Black marketing of tickets by agents of launch owners and staff is going on freely.