Gas to become 22.7pc costlier

A household will have to spend Tk 150 more on monthly gas bill from March 1, as the energy regulator yesterday raised gas prices for all consumers by 22.7 percent.

Households using double burners have to pay Tk 800 each from next month compared to Tk 650 now, while those using single burners have to pay Tk 750 each against Tk 600.

The prices would be increased again on June 1 by another Tk 150 for each gas stove, as Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) yesterday decided to implement the hike in two phases.

From June, the monthly gas bill for a double burner will be Tk 950 and for a single burner Tk 900.

“The prices are being increased in two phases so that consumers don't feel a sudden pressure on their purchasing power,” BERC Chairman Monowar Islam said after announcing the decision at a press conference at the BERC office in the capital.

The two-phase increase means expenditures of households and commercial users on gas bills would go up by around 50 percent.

Gas prices for households have doubled over the last eight years. The BERC last raised gas prices in September 2015.  

This time, CNG price has gone up to Tk 38 per cubic metre from Tk 35. It will be Tk 40 from June 1.

Prof M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said they had opposed the gas price hikes during the public hearings held by the BERC in August last year.

“This is illogical, and it goes against the interests of the consumers,” he said, adding that the price has been increased in line with the energy ministry's plan.

The rights activist also said the decision to increase the prices in two phases was a violation of law as the prices cannot be increased twice a year.

Alam said the CAB would challenge the decision in court.  

Abdul Matlub Ahmad, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said export-oriented industries would lose competitiveness on the international market due to the gas price hike, which would push up the production cost.

“Similarly, the prices of some goods will rise on the domestic market because of increased cost of production. And inflation will rise,” he told The Daily Star.

At a press conference at the BNP chief's political office in the capital's Gulshan, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “The hike in gas prices is anti-people and illogical.”

He demanded that the government cancel the decision as it would add to the sufferings of the people.

Talking to The Daily Star, a number of consumers expressed unhappiness over the price hike.

Sohel Rana, who works at a private company in the capital, said the 50 percent increase in gas price is totally unacceptable as living costs are going up every day.

In August last year, trade bodies, rights groups and energy experts opposed the government move to hike gas prices at the public hearings on the distributors' proposals for increasing the prices.

The latest price hike comes at a time when all consumers, including households and industries, are suffering from shortage of gas supply.

As per the BERC decision, gas prices for power plants will go up to Tk 2.99 per cubic metre from Tk 2.82 now. It will be Tk 3.16 from June 1.

Industries that use generators for producing electricity from gas will see gas price rise to Tk 8.98 per cubic metre from Tk 8.36 now. It will be Tk 9.62 in June.

Rahman Murshed, a member of the BERC, said distributors had sought 94.9 percent increase in gas prices, but the commission increased it by only 22.7 percent.

According to Bangladesh Economic Survey 2016, households consumed about 13 percent of the total gas produced in the country in 2014-15, while CNG-run vehicles consumed 5.37 percent, power plants 40 percent, captive generators 17.12 percent, fertiliser companies 6.16, industries 16.79 percent, tea gardens 0.09 percent, and commercials 1.04 percent.

BERC members Mahmudul Huq Bhuiyan, Md Mizanur Rahman and Abdul Aziz Khan, among others, were present at the briefing.