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Thousands of patients and their relatives are facing severe hardship as an indefinite strike by private ambulance operators entered its second day at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Wednesday, over demands for parking facilities on the hospital premises.
Patients arriving at the hospital on October 28 were seen struggling to arrange transport, with many waiting outside the emergency department, outpatient department and Building 2.
However, allegations have emerged that the demand for parking is a pretext for restoring an app-based ambulance service that reportedly generated Tk 12–15 lakh in monthly commissions for a group of operators.
Rezaul Karim, whose sister Seema Akter was injured in a road accident on the Mawa Road on Tuesday, said doctors had advised transferring her to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR).
“I tried for two to three hours but could not arrange an ambulance. I even called 999, but that did not help. Finally, a driver of the hospital’s government ambulance offered to take her to NITOR,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shahin Gazi, a stroke patient brought from Savar, was seen lying on a trolley on the stairs of the emergency department. His younger brother, Shamim Gazi, said they needed to take him to Ibn Sina Hospital in Lalbagh for an MRI but had been unable to find an ambulance despite waiting for half an hour.
Another patient attendant, Shafik Ahmed, alleged that ambulance operators were preventing outside vehicles from transporting patients. He urged the government to break up what he described as a syndicate holding patients hostage through the strike.
An unnamed member of the private ambulance owners’ association said a previous hospital director had introduced an app-based ambulance service to facilitate patient transport. However, he alleged that operators inflated fares through the platform, charging Tk 2,500 for journeys that would normally cost Tk 1,000 and Tk 12,000–13,000 for trips costing around Tk 8,000.
He further claimed that several groups, including the ambulance owners’ association, received commissions of Tk 30,000–40,000 daily, amounting to Tk 12–15 lakh a month. The service was discontinued after a new director took charge, allegedly cutting off the groups’ revenue.
Another ambulance owner alleged that the parking demand was merely a pretext to bring back the app-based service. He also claimed that political affiliations were discouraging operators opposed to the strike from providing services, while people associated with the app company were financing the protest.
The report identified two leaders of the Bangladesh Ambulance Owners Welfare Association as central figures behind the strike, alleging that they were seeking senior positions in the hospital’s Jubo Dal unit and had shared the commissions generated by the app-based service. These allegations have not been independently verified.
Mohammad Emon Ali, general secretary of the DMCH Private Ambulance Owners’ Association, confirmed that the strike was continuing. He warned that if their demands were not met on Wednesday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Ambulance Owners’ Association would call a wider strike from Thursday.
