Trackers bust car thefts

Businesses are increasingly using the device
The newly introduced vehicle tracking system has become popular among corporate houses as it promises to retrieve stolen or lost cars and provides a means to cost-effective logistics management.
Along with donors and NGOs, corporate houses, like telecom operators, banks, insurers and garment makers have adopted the system.
Only four organisations — Grameenphone, Monico Ltd, NITS Service Private Ltd and Nexdecade Technologies Ltd — have so far received licences from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to provide the vehicle-tracking system.
More than 1,200 cars have been equipped with the vehicle-locating device since the licences were issued in June 2009.
Also, more than 5,000 are using the tracker under private entrepreneurship without licence, which will soon be brought under the licensing framework.
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority statistics, updated until December 2007, show more than 10.54 lakh registered vehicles are running countrywide.
The GPS modules sell at Tk 12,000 to TK 13,000, while the monthly charge is Tk 650 to Tk 750 per car.
A vehicle tracking system entails an electronic device to be installed in a vehicle to enable the owner or a third party to track the vehicle’s location. In Bangladesh, most vehicle tracking systems use Global Positioning System (GPS) modules to accurately locate a vehicle.
Many systems also combine a communications component such as cellular or satellite transmitters to communicate the vehicle’s location to a remote user. Vehicle information can be viewed on electronic maps via the internet or specialised software. In Bangladesh, vehicle trackers use the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology as internet support.
Al Mahmud, assistant manager (marketing) of Nexdecade Technologies Ltd, said the company imports GPS modular vehicle trackers from China. Upon being installed in the car, it connects to the company’s server via GPRS.
The total system is then run with a special tracking software, he said.
The local vehicle tracker now provides services, including engine lock, door lock, mileage detection and fuel consumption.
“We provide all these information to our customers,” he said. The company has installed the tracker in more than 550 cars.
Palmal Group, Ad-Din Hospital, Akij Group and Warid Telecom are some names on Nexdecade’s customer list.
Theft prevention and an ability to monitor driving behaviour have mainly encouraged customers to adopt such a technology, said Al Monsur Aklim Ahmed, chief marketing officer of NITS Service Ltd, which has installed 500 trackers to date.
The vehicle tracker call centres also provide 24-hour customer service at a designated telephone number.
United Nations Development Programme, Transparency International Bangladesh, BNS Group, Green Delta Insurance, Pran Group and KDS Group are some of NITS’s major customers.
Vehicle theft is very common to Dhaka. According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), more than 50 cases on an average are filed in Dhaka city a month on car hijack.
With the tracker in place, the police can locate the stolen vehicle by simply following the signal emitted by the system.
The Automatic Vehicle Tracking System was introduced at the DMP Headquarters recently with a view to reduce motor vehicle hijack.
“We can monitor everything — from fuel consumption to driver’s unholy practices,” said Habibur Rahman Ripon, a businessmen who recently installed a tracker in his car.
“I can receive any information I need about my car by simply calling or sending an SMS to the company that installed the system,” he said.

Coueresy of The Daily Star