However, despite the increased prices, CNG drivers remain reluctant to follow regulations which demand they take passengers to any destination or any distance in the city.

As only a small number of the 13,000 auto rickshaws in the city completed calibration and installation of new software for the new fare structure, drivers of the three-wheelers will be carrying a fare chart containing the details.

Although the government stressed that the increase in prices should ensure that drivers stop violating regulations, including metre tampering and refusing to take passengers to any distance or destination, no new enforcement measures have been introduced.

Emdad Ahmed of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh said there is still every opportunity for drivers or vehicle owners to cheat passengers.

Under the new fare structure, the initial charge has been set at Tk 15, up from the previous Tk 12. The fare for the first two kilometres has been raised to Tk 13.50 from Tk 12 and fare for each extra kilometre to Tk 5.50. The new waiting charge will be Tk 0.75 per minute, up from Tk 0.50 per minute.

The drivers will have to pay Tk 450 per day to the vehicle owners instead of the previous Tk 300.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) only operates mobile courts two times a week to check regulation violations by motorists on the city roads. This measure has proven inadequate.

Complaints against defiant CNG drivers and their owners will still have to be reported to the police a system that has also proven ineffective.

Alam, 38, a CNG driver said, "Unless the government ensures our security everywhere, we can't go anywhere in the city the passengers demand."

When contacted, BRTA Chairman Abu Bakar M Shahjahan admitted that some limitations in enforcement still exist.