India Bangladesh
India 
BangladeshLast reviewed July 2026
Crossing the border
India and Bangladesh share a land border you can cross by car. Keep your passport, national driving licence and International Driving Permit together, and check opening hours and any toll or vignette requirements before you travel.
Driving rules in Bangladesh
- Drive on the left.
- Heavy, mixed urban traffic — drive defensively.
- Horn use is constant.
- Carry passport, IDP and home licence.
What to see when you arrive in Bangladesh
- the Sundarbans mangrove forest
- the world's longest beach at Cox's Bazar
- the Sixty Dome Mosque at Bagerhat
- the Lalbagh Fort in Dhaka
- the tea hills of Sylhet
Once you're driving in Bangladesh
Destination-specific detail sourced from national road authorities, motoring clubs and rental policies — the things that catch cross-border drivers out.
Driving on a foreign licence
Foreign visitors should carry a valid home licence together with a 1949/1968 International Driving Permit; the BRTA accepts this combination only for short visits and does not allow driving on a home licence alone. Longer-term residents must obtain a Bangladeshi licence through the BRTA.
Tolls & road charges
There is no national vignette; tolls are collected per crossing at booths on major bridges and highways such as the Padma Bridge and Bangabandhu (Jamuna) Bridge, paid in cash (taka) at the plaza, typically a few hundred taka for a car.
Parking in the cities
Dhaka has very little formal street parking; use guarded paid lots at malls and hotels, as roadside parking is heavily congested and illegally parked cars are ticketed or towed by traffic police and DNCC/DSCC authorities.
Fines & camera enforcement
Using a hand-held phone while driving, no seatbelt and speeding draw fines under the Road Transport Act 2018; traffic sergeants issue case slips (mamla) rather than taking cash on the spot, and rental firms pass any tickets back to the renter.
If you have an accident
Dial the national emergency line 999 for police and ambulance; do not move vehicles after a serious crash and wait for police, as a police report is needed for any insurance claim. Crowds can gather quickly, so in a serious incident drivers are advised to drive to the nearest police station rather than confront a mob.
Driving in the capital
Dhaka traffic is among the world's most congested, with cars, rickshaws, CNG auto-rickshaws and buses weaving constantly; lane discipline is minimal and most tourists hire a local driver rather than self-drive.
Sources: tyremap.com · bd.usembassy.gov · globalpetrolprices.com · internationaldriversassociation.com