Only one, out of the eight interested companies to run cabs in the capital, was able to fulfil all the conditions of the Taxicab Service Guidelines of 2010,
said a member of the taxicab selection committee.
The communications ministry is yet to make its decision on the matter, he added.
On May 23 this year, the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority invited applications from companies interested to press 6,740 air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned taxicabs on the Dhaka city roads.
Eight companies offered to launch taxicabs while the communications minister, Obaidul Quader, had given the committee till June 30 to select the interested companies.
The selection committee first sat on June 12 but failed to select any company. Later the minister set the deadline for July 15.
A committee member, seeking anonymity, told New Age on Wednesday that the committee had evaluated the applications of all the interested companies but found only Toma Construction and Company meeting all the conditions of the guidelines.
According to the taxicab guidelines, to be eligible a company must have a paid up capital of Tk 2.5 crore, own parking space with workshop for maintenance, radio communication network, vehicle tracking system and training facilities for drivers.
The rest of the companies were not able to meet two or three clauses of the guideline, he said and added that most of the interested companies did not have own space in the capital.
‘We have sent our recommendations to the ministry, which is supposed to give its final decision within this week regarding whether this one company or the rest will be allowed to run taxicab in Dhaka,’ the member said.
The eight companies are Netol Motors, Sarika Traders, Expressway Company, Meghna Cements Mills, Toma Construction and Company, Ryan Consumers and Transport, Sigma Tel and Glorious Abashon Company.
Netol Motors had applied under the banner of National Car Limited which did not have its own space in Dhaka, the member added.
In May, the government relaxed clause in the Taxicab Service Guidelines of 2010 as none of the three bidding companies could fulfil the condition in 2012.
In 2002, the government allowed several companies to run 11,260 cabs in the city, of which only 2,000 to 2,500 are currently running in the city.
-With New Age input
