The state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) purchased 50 ‘articulated’ buses in 2013. It was said that these buses, purchased under an Indian loan, would add a new dimension to Dhaka’s public transport. But in just seven years, 43 buses became unusable, which may remind many of the experience of the world-famous Volvo buses purchased from Sweden two and a half decades ago.
Carelessness and neglect of state resources is just one aspect of the negligence, irregularities and corruption that are rampant in this government institution. BRTC is still suffering from the consequences of irregularities and corruption of the past few years. This is hampering its main goal - passenger service.
Volvo’s shadow in articulated
The ‘articulated’ bus structure, which is almost twice the length of conventional buses, is known to the public abroad as bendy, stretch, slinky, etc.
It has gained popularity as it is possible to transport relatively more passengers within the legal length. However, due to some problems in operating on relatively narrow roads, this bus, which is made of two parts, has been withdrawn from many cities around the world.
Out of the 50 articulated buses purchased in 2013, BRTC re-launched 27 in 2022. The rest of the buses are still lying in the depot. With these, a total of 1,558 buses have been added to the organization’s fleet in the last 15 years. Of these, 1,244 are operational on paper. And about Tk 13 billion was spent on purchasing these buses in four projects.
During this time, many buses have been damaged. Some have been sold as ‘scrap’ at a price per kg due to long-term storage. The lack of proper maintenance or timely repairs has disrupted passenger services and affected BRTC’s income. The organization is plagued by various problems, including difficulty in paying debts and irregular salaries of employees.
BRTC-related sources say that initiatives have now been taken to activate 8 more articulated buses. The rubber joint between the two parts of these buses is made in Germany.
As demand is extremely limited, these are not generally available in the local market. The cost of each new joint of the bus is more than Tk 3.3 million. However, the old ones are being repaired for only Tk 40 thousand using local technology.
BRTC, after much effort, put 50 modern double-decker buses of the world-famous Volvo company of Sweden on the roads of Dhaka in 2001-02. It was praised for the comfort of the ride in the state-of-the-art buses. However, due to errors in lease management and lack of maintenance, the buses became useless one by one within just five years.
Apart from expensive or special company cars, there are also old allegations of negligence in the maintenance and repair of state-owned company cars in general. According to the organization, in recent years, 139 buses were lying idle for various periods in various depots including Chittagong, Narayanganj, Motijheel, Kalyanpur, Mirpur, Joarsahara, Gazipur. Although many of the mechanical parts of these buses are repairable, the outer parts of the buses were damaged due to falling. As a result, government resources were wasted.
Irregularities in 3 years of suffering
According to the report of the Transport Audit Department, managers and officials of various BRTC bus depots, including Tejgaon in the capital, embezzled Tk 48.7 million in three fiscal years from 2017-18 to 2019-20. This financial loss occurred due to drivers, conductors and leaseholders not properly depositing the revenue received from outside individuals or organizations in the bank. The audit report says that the total corruption figure of BRTC in those three fiscal years alone is more than Tk 246.2 million. BRTC is also facing problems in collecting dues due to lawsuits.
The report shows that there are allegations of irregularities in the allocation of 37 shops at Kalyanpur Bus Depot. The fee for changing the business type has not been deposited. There are complications in collecting the arrears of rent at the Fulbaria CBS-2 market. There have been allegations about the role of the officials of the estate department of the BRTC head office behind these failures. BRTC has failed to collect more than Tk 6 crore revenue from the lease of Motijheel, Kalyanpur, Joarsahara, Barisal, Khulna, Bogra bus depots and head office. On international routes, Shyamoli Paribahan, Royal Coach and NR Travels have arrears of Tk 24.61 lakh in royalty fees for three years, which have not been paid citing the reason of Corona.
Sources of the organization say that BRTC is still having to bear the responsibility of these corruptions during the time of former chairman Farid Ahmed Bhuiyan and Md. Ehsan Elahi. During the time of these two, who held the post in succession just before the current chairman, BRTC’s debt to various institutions stood at Tk 101 crore. In the last four years, Tk 92 crore has been paid from it.
Bus fare to settle debts
Many ordinary bus passengers in the capital complain that the vehicles of this government organization are not seen on many routes on the Dhaka route. Again, there are precedents of hasty route changes. BRTC sources say that due to the pressure of debt repayment, bus fares are being paid to various government institutions with less emphasis on passenger service. Now, 550 of their vehicles transport passengers on the capital route. However, these vehicles do not generate much income. 172 vehicles have been rented to various government institutions.
BRTC Chairman Md. Tajul Islam, while talking to Daily Industry, confirmed that the payment of 172 bus fares is true. He said that the reason is that money is needed to repay the amount of debt incurred in the past few years. Government institutions are earning a good income from bus fares. Last month, Tk 12 crore was paid as salary. About Tk 2.5 crore was earned.
Tajul Islam also said that due to irregularities of former officials, BRTC had a large amount of arrears. Since 2021, it has been reduced to Tk 9 crores. Efforts are being made to recover the old arrears through departmental cases and pressure, but it is difficult to recover the entire amount. Commenting that the complexity and irregularities of the estate department have reached a peak, he said that efforts are being made to fix this.
Leases will no longer be given
Apart from renting to government institutions, 19 BRTC buses have also been leased to private companies. Chairman Tajul Islam said that after taking charge in 2021, he saw that BRTC buses were handed over to private companies in violation of the rules. This lease process will be gradually stopped. It will not be renewed after the term expires. These lease owners have damaged BRTC by not paying revenue year after year. The buses added in the 2018-19 fiscal year have also become scrap due to negligence.
Expert advice
Communication and Transport Expert, Professor of the Civil Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Dr. Hadiuzzaman said that in the last three fiscal years, the BRTC management committee has played a major role in resolving the crisis. However, no matter how profitable the BRTC is, its main task is to serve the people. They should be given importance there. Making a profit through leasing should not be the main goal. Professor Hadiuzzaman also said that the structural capacity of BRTC is not available to any other bus company in the country. It should be utilized. BRTC has a tendency to increase the number of routes. But many routes do not have enough buses. This should be paid attention to.
