Hundreds of motorcycle and private cars, that operates under app-based ride-sharing services, will be out of the roads for 10 days starting from Thursday (Mar 26).
All app-based ride-sharing operators will keep their operations suspended till Apr 4, to comply with a directive from Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to enforce a ban on public transports, which officials have termed as social distancing strategy to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The government on Tuesday (Mar 24) imposed a ban on all public transports across Bangladesh, to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and to ensure social distancing and isolation.
Bangladesh’s Road Transport Act considers any motorized vehicle transporting paying customers as public transport.
Therefore, all commercial passenger vehicles such as buses, taxis, autorickshaws, and other human haulers (such as Nasimon, Porimon) will fall under the purview of the restriction. People can only move around using rickshaws as per the act.
Launched in 2016, Uber gained fast popularity in Dhaka, the city of traffic congestions and transport chaos. Pathao, OBHAI, Pickme, Shohoz and some other ridesharing firms are also operating in Bangladesh.
Covid-19, a new strain of coronavirus which was first reported in China’s Wuhan last December, has claimed four lives and infected 39 people in the country till Tuesday.