Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) today clarified its stance on changing the design of Dhaka Metro’s one-way tickets by omitting four images symbolic of Bangladesh’s language and independence struggles.

DMTCL, in an official Facebook post today, said the previous government took the decision to redesign the tickets to clear confusion over the use of an MRT Pass (permanent pass) and almost identical one-way tickets .

The change attracted public attention after DMTCL, which operates the metro, introduced 20,000 redesigned one-way tickets on November 1.

These new notes no longer feature images of the Central Shaheed Minar, the National Mausoleum, the National Parliament building and the national flower, the water lily. Instead, they only display an image of the subway itself.

The new design sparked widespread criticism on social media, with many questioning the rationale for removing these historic depictions from the cards.

DMTCL today said 3.13 lakh one-way tickets and 8.255 lakh MRT passes have been allocated under the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line 6 project. But confusion arose among passengers as the design of the two tickets is almost identical.

Many passengers mistakenly attempted to use one-way tickets with “touch and go” methods similar to the MRT Pass, rendering the exit gate non-functional, he added.

Around 200,000 one-way tickets went missing over time, with staff facing problems as passengers often confused identical cards and kept them instead of returning one-way ones, the statement added.

To resolve the problem, authorities have already changed the color of some 50,000 one-way tickets, but the move has yielded no results, the statement said.

Due to the shortage of one-way tickets, it was decided to add new tickets and make changes to the design, the statement said. A letter has been sent to the project consultants to take the necessary initiative to collect 4 lakh tickets.

The contractor was informed of the new ticket design on July 28 and provided the tickets on November 1.

The change in the design of one-way tickets was made to clear confusion and ensure proper management of passengers, he said, adding that the process of changing the design was initiated and finalized during the tenure of the previous government .

DMTCL hopes its clarification will clear the confusion regarding the issue.

The MRT Line-6 ​​project, which extends from Uttara to Kamalapur at a cost of Tk 33,472 crore, opened its Uttara-Motijheel section to the public in November 2023.

Work on the Motijheel-Kamalapur section is in progress.