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Bangladesh's newly introduced digital 'Fuel Pass' system witnessed a chaotic rollout in Dhaka on Sunday, as motorists struggled with kilometre-long queues and repeated technical glitches during the registration process.
At the Sonar Bangla Filling Station in Asadgate, long lines of motorcycles stretched for nearly two kilometres, winding through Mohammadpur Town Hall and extending up to Iqbal Road Park, creating severe congestion in surrounding areas. A separate queue for private vehicles was also reported, stretching beyond the Bihari Camp area towards the Shia Mosque, as anxious commuters waited for their turn amid growing uncertainty over fuel availability. The situation has been largely driven by fuel shortages linked to the ongoing Middle East conflict, which has disrupted supply chains and increased pressure on distribution networks across multiple stations in the city. In an attempt to streamline fuel distribution and manage demand, Bangladesh's power, energy and mineral resources ministry recently introduced the 'Fuel Pass' mobile application. The system is currently under pilot implementation at selected stations, including Trust Filling Station in Tejgaon and Sonar Bangla Filling Station in Asadgate. Under the new system, motorists are required to scan a QR code generated through the application in order to access their allocated fuel quota. The transition, however, has been anything but seamless. While a limited number of users who managed to complete registration were able to move through relatively shorter queues, the majority of applicants faced difficulties as both the registration portal (fuelpass.gov.bd) and the mobile application repeatedly crashed due to heavy traffic and technical issues. Despite these disruptions, staff at the Asadgate filling station continued to enforce the new rules. An engineer at the site used a hand microphone to announce that fuel would not be sold without a valid digital pass from 6 am on Sunday, further adding to the confusion among waiting motorists. For many commuters, the situation turned into an exhausting, day-long ordeal under the intense Chaitra heat, with long waits and repeated attempts to access the system adding to public frustration. At the Talukder Pump opposite Asadgate, similar congestion was reported, with a long queue of cars stretching all the way to Bijoy Sarani Metro Station via Lake Road. To obtain a digital fuel pass, users are required to register on the platform by submitting details such as vehicle registration number, chassis and engine numbers, National Identity (NID) number, year of manufacture and a mobile number for OTP verification. Once the submitted data is verified with the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) database, a unique QR code is generated. Users without smartphones are allowed to download and print the QR code from the website for use at filling stations. (ANI)
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