Retail power price went up 90pc in 11yrs
The bulk price of electricity has shot up 118 percent while the retail price has gone up 89.63 percent in the last 11 years. The prices were hiked 10 times during that period.
Every year, the government pays Tk 7,000-8,000 crore in subsidies for the sector. Otherwise, the electricity prices would have been higher.
Journalist Monjurul Ahsan Bulbul gave the information in his keynote paper presented at a webinar, titled "Protection of Consumers' Rights in Energy Reformation", yesterday. The webinar was organised by Consumers Association of Bangladesh (Cab) and its online newspaper VoktaKantho.
He said earlier the Power Development Board was tasked with the distribution of electricity. "Later, the task was handed over to state-owned companies like Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd and Desco. In the process, the manpower increased and so did the manpower costs, leading the authorities to hike the prices."
Monjurul alleged that much information on various irregularities in the sector, however, remains undisclosed.
Shares of various government-owned companies are being sold to private owners. The money earned this way is kept as fixed deposits (FDR), but no one knows where the money goes, he said.
He also said the check and balance was being disrupted as government secretaries were being made members of such companies' board of directors. "Sometimes, it is the same persons who represent the regulator and the companies while setting electricity prices."
Cab Advisor (energy) Prof M Shamsul Alam said, "Getting electricity at fair prices is our right."
Slamming the government for hiking electricity prices so many times, he claimed that people in some European countries were paying less than Bangladeshis for electricity.
He also said reformation of the power sector had become essential. "The country started reforming the sector 17 years ago, but the government has not been able to effectively control the companies. Those companies are not caring about the minimum prices set by the government."
Shamsul also said it was the basic duty of the regulatory commission to protect consumer rights and attract investment for the sector.
"But the authorities have fixed the profit margin so high that both foreign and local companies compete to invest. In the meantime, people are having to buy electricity at two to two-and-half times higher than what they are supposed to."
Dhaka University's Economics department Chairman Prof MM Akash said the increasing bulk and retail prices of electricity were impacting on the consumers.
"No one knows the actual cost of generating electricity in the private sector. The government has enacted an indemnity law in the sector, which is unacceptable."
CAB President Golam Rahman presided over the webinar conducted by VoktaKantho Editor Kazi Abdul Hannan and a CAB organiser Syed Mizanur Rahman.
Rajshahi University Prof Malay Bhowmik and journalist Musa Mia also spoke at the webinar.
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