Raise commission on CNG sales by Tk 5.10 per cubic metre

Owners of the compressed natural gas (CNG) filling stations in the country have demanded that their commission on the fuel sales be raised by Tk 5.10 per cubic metre or 63.75 per cent from existing Tk 8 per cubic metre.

Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners' Association leaders made the demand at a press conference in its office on Sunday.

Of the total hikes, as they sought, Tk 1.60 per cubic metre is for adjusting losses against the power tariff hikes on different occasions since 2015 and Tk 3.50 per cubic metre in consideration of current market prices, including inflation.

Speaking on the occasion, Manoranjan Bhakta, president of the association, alleged that despite having policy recommendations, the government did not adjust commission on CNG sales coping with raising power tariff since 2015.

CNG production costs from piped natural gas increased by Tk 1.60 per cubic metre over the past one decade since 2015 only due to power tariff hikes, he said. Citing an example, Farhan Noor, secretary general of the association, said power tariff of a CNG filling station was Tk 3.45 per unit (1kilowatt-hour) during 2014, which now stood at Tk 5.04 per unit after several hikes.

CNG sales of the filling stations also dropped significantly over the past one decade, he said, adding a CNG filling station that would sell around 96,093 cubic metre of CNG during 2015, currently sells around 66,718 cubic metre.

The CNG filling station would attain profit of Tk 3.54 after selling CNG to commoners at Tk 30 per cubic metre during 2014, which now shed to Tk 2.68 per cubic metre after selling CNG at a much higher price at Tk 43 per cubic metre, Mr Noor added.

Raising land lease costs, municipality taxes, salary hikes of employees and volatility in US dollar pushed the maintenance costs of a CNG filling station roughly double to Tk 2.0 million from Tk 1.0 million one decade back, he added. "We are now fighting to ensure our survival," he said.

Several dozens of CNG filling stations shut operations over the past one decade as they could not cope up with the rising costs, Mr Noor observed.

The association sent letters to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) to press home their demand.

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