TIB criticises retaining vehicle maintenance allowance for government officials

Transparency International Bangladesh has described the government's decision to retain the Tk50,000 monthly vehicle maintenance allowance for entitled officials as a "helpless surrender" to bureaucratic influence, saying it had overturned the prime minister's austerity directive.

In a statement today (19 July), TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the prime minister had approved reducing the monthly maintenance allowance from Tk50,000 to Tk25,000 and scrapping the interest-free car loan facility in view of the country's economic challenges and limited public resources.

Describing the original decision as a commendable step to reduce inequality and prevent wasteful public spending, Iftekharuzzaman said it was alarming that a policy adopted at the highest level had effectively been reversed under pressure from vested interests.

He urged the government to identify the forces behind the policy reversal and address what he described as an entrenched culture of privilege within the bureaucracy.

TIB also argued that the special benefits were discriminatory from the outset, applying to only about 2,400 officials while excluding other officers of similar rank and cadre. Such preferential treatment, it said, had fuelled unhealthy competition for designated posts and undermined morale among deprived officials.

The anti-corruption watchdog also questioned the justification for maintaining such unequal benefits for vehicles financed by taxpayers. It noted that while the government had already approved an unconditional salary increase for public officials to offset rising living costs, it had ignored TIB's recommendation to require public disclosure of officials' asset statements.

As a result, the organisation said, questions remained over whether citizens would receive more transparent and corruption-free public services under the revised pay structure.

Calling the reversal an unprecedented disregard for the government's own austerity policy, TIB urged authorities to ignore bureaucratic pressure and immediately implement the prime minister's previously announced cost-cutting and non-discriminatory measures.

On 9 July, the Finance Ministry wrote to the Public Administration Ministry requesting that the vehicle maintenance allowance be reduced to Tk25,000, mentioning the prime minister's approval.

However, the Finance Ministry sent another letter last week asking the ministry not to take any decision on the matter, leaving the existing Tk50,000 allowance unchanged.