Communications Minister Nazmul Huda recently ordered the Chairman of the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) to cancel the lease contracts and to work out a mechanism for more qualitative services for the passengers.

"We have decided to suspend their contracts as they are not providing expected services to the passengers. I have asked the BRTC authorities to come up with a guideline on how to run the services properly," said Nazmul Huda.

"If needed, rather than going for private contracts, the BRTC itself will run the city services. If any contractor wants to run the bus services it will have to comply with all of our terms and conditions which are under process. The BRTC will formulate a policy to ensure passenger satisfaction," said Nazmul Huda.

Following the order, Chairman of the BRTC Taimur Alam Khondokar formed a committee to formulate a policy of city bus services. "Our experts are now analysing and scrutinising every possible ways of the city bus services. Within a few days, we will able to come up with a rational guideline for the bus services," Taimur Alam.

Now the BRTC has only 1700 employees to manage about 800 buses. "If the government cancels the lease contracts of the buses we need at least 5000 employees to run such a huge fleet of buses," said a senior official of the BRTC requesting anonymity.

As many as 400 BRTC buses ply city streets from 10 different routes.

Meanwhile, Nazmul Huda also instructed the BRTC authorities to make arrangements for its inter-district buses to operate from the three inter-district bus terminals, instead of its central bus depot at Kamlapur.

"We will not provide any extra cushion for the inter-district BRTC buses any more. They will have to face the competition from the private sector buses and operate from the three bus terminals," said Nazmul Huda.

"We haven't received any official order about the operation of the inter-district BRTC buses. As soon as we have the order from the ministry we will relocate our inter-district services to the inter-district bus terminals of the city," said the BRTC chairman.

The private bus owners have long been demanding that the BRTC buses be brought to the same level of private buses. "The communications ministry's decisions to withdraw the inter-district BTRC bus services from the downtown will fulfil some of our demands, said Pintu, Assistant General Secretary of the Bus and Truck Owners Association.