Dhaka, Sept. 25 -- Every day, drivers and passengers crossing bridges and highways across Bangladesh face the same frustrating ritual: stopping at toll plazas, paying cash to unknown contractors, and receiving little or no explanation of where that money goes.

The recent events at Balipara Bridge in Mymensingh's Trishal are not a one-off.

They are a symptom of a much deeper illness in Bangladesh's toll collection system -- a system that has been amended twice, in 2014 and 2024, yet remains stubbornly opaque, politically captured, and fundamentally unfair to ordinary people.

The incidents at Balipara Bridge tell a familiar story. Local residents and transport drivers blocked the Trishal-Nandail road on Sept 17, protesting what they said...