BRTA Plagues the Public with Endless Harassment and Misery
Eklas Haque
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) is a government office meant to serve the public. Yet people face harassment at every step in this very office. They have to run after officials for days to get a service. People suffer greatly at BRTA offices across the country, and because of this many avoid going even when they need to. Many get tired while seeking a service. Some lose time and some lose money. Overall, the BRTA office has become like a show piece, an institution that is to be looked at but is of no use.
Services of the road transport system such as vehicle registration, driving licenses and fitness certificates are given through this institution. Many kinds of people depend on these services, from private car owners to professional drivers and transport business owners. Even a small irregularity in this institution can have a big effect. A delay in getting a license can hurt a driver’s work. Those concerned say missing or wrong vehicle papers can create problems.
Customers say they have to turn to brokers to get a government service at BRTA offices. Because officials do not cooperate, customers ask brokers for help. Then a customer’s suffering begins. Only running drives against brokers will not solve the problem for good. What is needed is a transparent system where service seekers can finish their work on their own by following the rules. But officials have arranged the service in such a way that nothing gets done without a broker.
In Dhaka and other parts of the country, people face many kinds of trouble getting service at BRTA offices. For a long time there have been complaints of broker syndicates’ dominance, irregularities and harassment in driving license making and renewal, vehicle registration, fitness certificates and ownership transfer. In some offices, brokers hold so much influence that a service seeker cannot tell who is a broker and who is an official on duty.
Even after applying by the set rules, clear information about the progress of work is often not available. People suffer when they try to learn which paper is missing, at what stage the application is, or how many days the service will take. In this situation, a group of middlemen demand money from service seekers by promising to get the work done quickly.
Akram Hossain, a professional driver of heavy vehicles, told Inqilab that going to a BRTA office to do any work means falling into trouble. He said they are ordinary drivers and need easy service. He said his license was lost and he is now driving with a General Diary (GD) report. He went to the BRTA office, but it is not possible without help from brokers. Brokers demand a lot of money, so he cannot do it. He added that even after coming with all papers, one has to come again and again to finish the work, which wastes driving time. He said the BRTA authority gives no help in providing the service.
To get comment on the matter, BRTA Chairman Mr. Mohammad Habibur Rahman was called on his mobile phone, but he did not answer.
Meanwhile, BRTA has published a notice making a front number plate mandatory for motorcycles. The deadline to carry out this order has been set at 15 November. There are about 5.1 million motorcycles in the country. For the rear number plate, BRTA now takes Tk 2,260 from customers. It was decided to put number plates in front so that cameras with artificial intelligence (AI) technology on Dhaka roads can easily identify motorcycle numbers and act against rule breakers. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and BRTA have been given the job of carrying this out.
RFID is an electronic tag that identifies vehicles using radio waves. When BRTA introduced this system, it said vehicles could be identified in any situation. It said this would stop the use of fake number plates and the use of one number on many vehicles. It would help recover stolen vehicles and trace the location of stolen or snatched vehicles. It would also help identify vehicles in criminal activity and track and monitor vehicle movement on roads.
Under the BRTA instruction, the owner will fit the front number plate of the right size by himself. It does not have to be taken from BRTA. For one number plate for a motorcycle, Tk 2,260 is taken from the owner, and paying it is mandatory at registration. If the plate breaks or is damaged, the owner has to pay the same amount again to get a new one. If front number plates are fitted, owners of about 5.1 million motorcycles will face extra costs of more than Tk 1,152 crore.
