The owners of light transport vehicle Leguna have got permission to come back on the roads after paying a raised fee. It’s reported that to recoup the extra fee paid, passengers are having to pay additional fare.

On 4 September last, DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia stopped then operation of Leguna in all routes to prevent accidents and anarchy on the main roads though the Leguna was seen in many inner roads.

But the Leguna vehicles are back on the main road, Bangla Tribune has found.

Uninterrupted operation of Leguna is seen at Zigatola, Motijheel, Malibagh, Shyamoli, Agargaon, Farmgate, Basabo, Fakirapul, Motijheel, Malibag, Gulishtan, Tejgaon and other areas.

Reportedly, after much lobbying, the permission was given back to Leguna though the route cost is now Tk 900 as opposed to the previous Tk 550.

But on Friday and Saturday, the rate is between Tk 400 to Tk 500.

“The money is collected by linemen and then goes to several sections of police,” said a passenger and added: “Leguna was closed on the pretext of ensuring road safety though the real reason was to force the owners of the vehicles to increase the unlawful route fees.”

A driver says, “When it shut down, we went back to the village and have now come back once it has started. The price has gone up but there are passengers.”

However, Leguna drivers and owners often face problems and harassment and have to operate under the transport body and within police control.

A Leguna owner, Chunnu Mia, says, “I do not pay any route fees to anyone.”

Though several owners have said that the fare has not increased, it’s found that from Zigatola to Farmgate, the fee has risen from Tk 15 to Tk 18.

A Leguna owner says, “I bought the cars with bank loan, even if service is stopped, we have to pay the instalment.”

Meanwhile, police officials say that some Leguna vehicles are being permitted to run while an assessment is being carried out to determine the routes for this sort of transport.

DMP Joint Commissioner (south) Mofiz Uddin Ahmed said, “Unless there is an alternative, this sort of public transport cannot be stopped.”

He denied having any knowledge about police taking money from different routes.

This sort of accusation is baseless, he said.