Launch. Photo: Sangkirit
Launch fares increased a day after the bus fare hike. The government has announced that it will also increase fares on waterways due to the increase in fuel prices and management costs.
Road and Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam confirmed the fare increase after a bilateral meeting with the Shipping Owners Association at the Secretariat on Wednesday (September 23) afternoon.
According to the government decision, the launch fare has been increased by 23 paise per kilometer for the first 100 kilometers. And for distances beyond 100 kilometers, the fare has been increased by 20 paise per kilometer.
Explaining the reason for the fare increase, the minister said that considering everything including the increase in fuel prices and management costs, the boat owners had demanded a 15 percent fare increase. However, keeping in mind the passengers, the fare has been increased by 7.54 percent. In addition, the minimum fare was previously 32 taka. Currently, it has been increased to 35 taka.
The minister said, “We do not want to increase the rent. But in the global situation, there was no other option but to increase the price of oil. Therefore, we tried to increase the minimum rent considering the suffering of the people. We did not give anyone the opportunity to commit arbitrariness in the name of anarchy or taking advantage of the increase in oil prices in the name of increasing the rent.”
The owners had demanded an increase in the fare of passenger launches due to the increase in fuel prices. They had written to Shipping Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam demanding an increase in the fare by 51 to 60 percent per kilometer for a passenger. In that letter, they had proposed to increase the fare for the first 100 kilometers from the existing 2.95 taka to 4.45 taka and for the next 100 kilometers from the existing 2.52 taka to 4.2 taka. Otherwise, it has been proposed to cancel the increase in fuel prices.