Editorial
Rush for home hindered
Tickets sold openly on black market
This year is no exception to the rampant business of cornering the advance sale of bus tickets prior to Eid-ul-Fitr holidays when hundreds of thousands of people flock to their village homes to celebrate one of the two principal Muslim holidays. Indeed, if one is to go by recent newspaper headlines, bus tickets for August 14 to 16 is no longer available at most ticket counters of all major departure points of the city.
What is baffling to note is that this situation has become somewhat of a ritual where tickets somehow 'vanish' from counters but end up being freely available in the black market where passengers are forced to dish out hefty prices to get to their destination of choice. The paltry numbers of tickets that are available at the counters are sold at inflated prices by unscrupulous bus companies who have no qualms about fleecing customers. But by and large the bulk of advance tickets are taken 'off line' only to be sold off the counter to make stupendous profits.
Though the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority and concerned ministry officials make the claim of having taken measures to prevent transport operators from charging extra fares and stop other irregularities, these practices continue unabated. One may then easily ask precisely what the mobile courts and complaint centers that go into operation prior to such holidays do all day. The situation points to a lack of proper management by authorities which only aids black marketers to corner this yearly trade in tickets ripping off people in a trade that involves millions of Taka. It falls upon the authorities at large to take necessary measures in cracking down on these illegal syndicates so that the journey home may be a joyous one for the thousands who must travel home to be with loved ones.
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