40 percent city taxicabs out of order

. PHOTO: Star File Photo

Three of the key reasons why this sector reached such an unbearable state for all are absence of proper planning, importing vehicles that are unsuitable for heavy-duty taxicab operations and failure to set an acceptably reasonable fare as well as drivers' daily payments, pointed out experts.

In fact, most of the taxicabs were battered within the six months after the commencement of the service, observed the experts.

Both owners and drivers of the cabs pointing fingers at each other has turned the situation complex while the government is having difficulties to establish order in the sector. Under the circumstances, cab owners are losing their interest to replace the inoperative vehicles.

According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), there are 18 taxicab companies operating in the city with a fleet of 10,000 vehicles.

Owners and BRTA officials said about 4,000 taxicabs are non-operational currently. Taxicab company Anudeep alone has about 1,800 out of service cabs while Cab Express limited, another cab operator, has about 500 such vehicles.

Shahdat Hossain, an automobile engineer, said, "The 800cc vehicles being used for taxi service are not suitable for heavy wear and tear. The chassis of the vehicles for taxi service need to be heavy-duty with stronger engines, but most of the vehicles running as taxis in the city are only 800cc ones and the vehicles are really substandard. These vehicles have overheating problems and their bodywork are excessively weak."

G M Siraj, president of Cab Association of Bangladesh told Star City, "We did nothing wrong and went by the Taxicab Service Regulations 1998 [for importing the vehicles]. The regulation approved 800cc vehicles for the service."

When asked about the worn-out condition of the taxicabs, he blamed unavailability of skilled drivers for running the taxicabs. "The government introduced the taxicab service with a fewer number of vehicles in 1998 in the city without working out a source of skilled taxi drivers for smooth operation of the service."

By the end of 2001, the then government withdrew some 40,000 two-stroke petrol-fuelled auto rickshaws from city roads to curb severe air pollution, Siraj said.

To fill the vacuum in the transport system, the government then introduced only 12,000 CNG-run auto rickshaws and increased the number of taxicabs to 10,000. Most of the unemployed drivers of the three-wheeled auto rickshaws then turned automobile drivers and having no other option available, the taxicab owners employed these unskilled drivers to drive their vehicles, he explained.

"It is ironic that those drivers achieved their skills by now. But in the process, they destroyed the vehicles," said Siraj.

Khandaker M Azad, managing director of Cab Express (BD) Ltd, said about 4,000 taxicabs are not operative at the moment and their owners are not interested to replace the vehicles either.

"The fare chart that we are still going by was fixed by the BRTA in 1998 considering prices of fuel, spare parts and cost of maintenance back then," Azad said.

Abdul Hadi, a cab driver said, "Revising the fare chart alone will not help reduce the commuters' sufferings. The daily payments to the cab owners should also be fixed. I have no other way but to collect extra money from passengers since the daily payment for the vehicle is very high."

Humayun Rashid, director (operations) of BRTA, admitted that studies needed to be conducted before introducing the taxicab service in the city. However, a few of the issues in the sector could be solved if the Taxicab Service Regulations 1998 was strictly enforced.

The authorities have already banned the import of 800cc automobiles as taxicabs and the current taxicab owners, who need to replace their battered vehicles, will have to work out with the government for a solution, said Rashid.