Bus fares in Dhaka and Kolkata
Photo: Amirul Rajiv
Dhaka and Kolkata are two megacities that stand in close proximity. In Kolkata, intercity non-AC bus fares are for 0-4 km: Rs. 4.00; 4-9 km: Rs. 5.00; and 9-12 km: Rs. 5.50. In that city, the prices of petrol and diesel are Rs. 70.02/liter and Rs. 43.74/liter respectively. In Dhaka, the non-AC bus fare is Tk. 1.55 per kilometre. In fact, the bus owners don't even follow this rate of fare rate, though is already very high. For example, buses with ticket-counters charge Tk. 30.00 for a 14 km ride (from Uttara to Shyamoli), though it should not be more than Tk. 22.00, as per the rate fixed by the government. This fare was fixed before the recent price hike of the fuel by Tk. 5.00/liter, when the price of petrol was Tk. 86.00/liter and the price of diesel was Tk. 56.00/liter. Bangladeshi 100 taka = 53 Indian rupees. At this rate, the petrol and diesel prices in Kolkata would be Tk. 132.50 and Tk. 82.67 respectively, in Bangladeshi taka. So, a bus passenger in Kolkata pays Tk. 10.40 (Rs. 5.50 equivalent) for a 9-12 km ride. That means a bus rider in Dhaka pays almost three times more than his/her Kolkata counterpart. We hope, before increasing the bus fare, the government will take into consideration the fuel prices and bus fares of Kolkata. We believe, no underhand transaction would take place when the bus fare is fixed. Furthermore, we would like to draw the attention of the government to a matter that there is no difference between the quality of services provided by the counter-based buses and the local buses. Both run equally crammed. Then why should the buses with ticket counters charge more?
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