Titas flayed

At a public hearing over a Titas proposal to increase gas prices, consumers yesterday hit out at the distributor for failing to snap illegal connections, prevent gas theft, and ensure uninterrupted supply.

The consumers -- from different sectors, including domestic, industries, and power -- also said Titas came up with the "illogical" price hike proposal despite failing to provide proper services.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) organised the public hearing at Bangladesh Institute of Administration and Management (Biam) auditorium in the capital. Yesterday was the third day of the hearing.

Titas distributes gas in Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions. It has 29 lakh legal connections, including 28 lakh to households.

Recently, it proposed to increase gas prices by 117 percent. At the hearing, the Technical Evaluation Committee of Berc recommended the prices are hiked by 20 percent on average.

As per the recommendation, per cubic meter gas will be Tk 11.64 from the existing Tk 9.70 on average.

TEC recommended a double burner at a household would cost Tk 1,080from the current Tk 975 and a single burner Tk 990 from Tk 925.

Per cubic meter gas will cost Tk 5.34 from the current Tk 4.44 for the power sector, Tk 15.50 from Tk 13.85 for the captive power plants, Tk 5.34 from Tk 4.45 for fertiliser factories, Tk 12.65 from Tk 10.70 for tea industries, Tk 27.60 from Tk 23 for commercial consumers like hotels and restaurants, and Tk 49.50 from Tk 43 for CNG feeds.

At the hearing, Prof Shamsul Alam, vice president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said both the Titas proposal and the TEC recommendation were "not acceptable".

He asked  Titas MD Haronur Rashid Mullah whether he really wanted to snap illegal connections with the help of law enforcers.

Haronur admitted having several lakh illegal connections and said that a process to cut them off had already started.

When he said they have an internal taskforce for the job, Shamsul said, "We have no faith in your internal taskforce as you did not complete the job in years."

The Titas MD said Titas covers a huge area with limited manpower, which is why it was difficult for them to look after the matter properly. "When we snap illegal connections at one place, new connections appear at the other."

He claimed they snapped over one lakh such connections since December.

When Shamsul asked why does the government, which owns 75pc shares of Titas, take the profits instead of reinvesting it, the MD kept mum.

Titas documents show it initially made Tk 345 crore in profit last year. After it paid Tk 217 crore to all its shareholders and Tk 440 crore to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the profit turned into losses, amounting to Tk 312 crore.

"Even during the pandemic situation, the [Titas] board members held Zoom meetings and took the honorarium," Shamsul said.

He also asked why Titas took money for many new connections when the government decided not to provide them for the time being.

The MD said they want to refund such customers, but "no one is willing to take the money."

Mohiuddin Ahmed, convener of The General Citizen Society, said illegal connections are given both in collusion with Titas employees and without their knowledge.

"The number of the illegal connections will not be less than the legal ones," he said, adding that the gas distributing companies act as a syndicate while proposing gas price hikes as all of them recommend the same hikes.

Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said they need to pay Tk 27 for gas for producing one kg of thread.

"Our products' prices depend on the international market. We will be able to survive only when the production cost will be low. Don't let our industry have the same fate as jute."

Golam Sarwar, a member of Ceramic Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said, "Our industry fully depends on gas. Our machines are okay, we have technologies and workers, but we face losses at times for the lack of uninterrupted gas."