Another round of gas price hike?

The number of non-metred household gas users is more than 250,000. They are charged Tk 990 monthly for a single burner and Tk 1,080 for a double burner. However, these domestic consumers are going to face a significant rise soon in their monthly bill as government-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company is planning to raise the price of gas by 47 per cent. The company has already submitted a proposal to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission to increase the prices of both single and double burners by Tk 390 and Tk 512 respectively per month. If the proposal is accepted, the monthly bill for a single burner and a double burner will jump to Tk 1,379 and Tk 1,591, respectively.

The proposed hike, if implemented, will have an adverse impact on our everyday life. Common people have been passing their days in miseries due to inflation, and now increase in gas price will only add fuel to the fire. Instead of raising the price of gas, the authorities concerned should exercise their power to eliminate the corruption in the activities of one of our largest distributors of gas in the country, and expand domestic gas exploration activities on a large scale. If the government looks for other alternatives, it will not be necessary to raise the price of gas.

Afroza Sheikh,

Dania, Dhaka,

ilcbd2008@gmail.com