Consumer-rights campaigners plan to petition the energy regulator this coming week for settlement of the dispute they raised over power-price hike they termed 'irrational'.
"We are going to file an application to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) next week under dispute-settlement regulation for disposal of the dispute over recent power-tariff hike at retail level," energy adviser of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Prof Dr M Shamsul Alam told the FE Friday.
He said the tariff hike at consumers/retail level by the BERC is "irrational" and "illegal".
"We don't think the proposed power-tariff hike by BERC is rational, legal and logical," he added.
The consumer-rights campaigner, an energy expert, said the increased costs of distribution and maintenance under different power-distribution companies led the BERC to increase power tariffs at consumers' level.
Dr Alam hinted that in the event of their application being rejected by the BERC, they would file a writ petition with the Supreme Court for a legal remedy.
The BERC announced the latest power-price hike at retail level last Thursday, raising the rate of each unit (kilowatt-hour) of electricity by Tk 0.35 or 5.3 percent with effect from next month.
This time around, retail-level customers are to pay higher for the use of electricity. Wholesale customers are out of the purview of the raise in power rates.
With the latest one, power prices have been increased eight times since Awami League-led governments started off in 2010.
The government last increased power tariffs by 2.93 per cent on September 1, 2015.
From December, consuming 75 units of electricity will cost higher by Tk 20.00 while for over 600 units the increase will be minimum Tk 30.
Different stakeholders and campaigners for consumer rights stood against the power-price hike. Left-leaning political parties have called a half-day hartal for November 30 to protest the raise which they think will cast cascading impacts on people's cost of living.
State minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid in March last said the increase in gas prices in certain sectors would raise the cost of gas used for electricity.
The BERC then scrutinised the proposals from the various distribution companies and arranged a public hearing. A 15 percent increase in the price of wholesale power and a 6-14 percent increase in the price of retail power were proposed at the event.
Dhaka Power Distribution Company put forward proposals to increase the price of electricity by 6.24 per cent at the user level, 6.34 per cent at DESCO, 10.36 per cent at West Zone Power Distribution Company, 10.75 per cent at REB and 14.5 per cent at PDB.
Though the price of electricity at retail level was increased by 5.3 percent, the minimum payment for having electricity has been removed, according to the BERC.
As a result, about three million consumers using 50 units of electricity or less (13 percent of the total users) will have a lower electricity bill going forward.
Nearly six million consumers under Bangladesh Rural Electricity Board (about 38 percent of the user-base) may not experience an increase in their electricity bills, according to BERC.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com
