Deadline for obtaining captive power unit licences ends today
FE Report | Sunday, 31 August 2008
The extended deadline for seeking licences from the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) for using captive/standby electricity generators expires today (Sunday) with the users still in the dark about their plea for reducing the licence fees.
But the Commission may consider extending the lime limit by imposing some financial penalty, sources said.
"We are yet to decide on whether the deadline for obtaining licences will again be extended or not. If we do so, then certain amount of fine may be imposed," a senior BERC official said.
The official further said the Commission will take a decision shortly on further extension of the time limit after evaluating the overall number of respondents to this effect.
On January 10 last, the BERC served a public notice, making obtaining of licenses mandatory for the use of captive/stand-by generators having capacity of 1 MW and above for all concerned.
Initially, the Commission set April 30 as the deadline for obtaining such licences, but later it was extended twice finally ending on August 31.
Until last Thursday, nearly 300 individuals and industrial units applied for obtaining operating licences for such captive power generators, the BERC sources said, expressing the hope that the commission would receive a good number of applications today.
Of the total, the Commission has already issued about 150 licenses to the operators of captive and stand-by power generators while the process of issuing similar number of licences are also underway, they noted.
A top BERC official informed the FE that the regulatory authorities were also brainstorming on reduction of the existing licence fees on captive and stand-by generators to be used for industrial and commercial purposes following strong demands from the country's top businesses for withdrawal of such fees.
"A committee headed by a BERC member has already been formed to work on the possible reduction of licence fees on captive and stand-by generators, which is expected to make its recommendations shortly," said the official.
The official further said after receiving the recommendations, the BERC will place a concrete proposal on the reduction of such licence fees before the ministry of law for vetting.
Responding to a query, he also said: "We are actively considering lowering the licence fees to a reasonable level in line with the appeals made by the users concerned."
According to officials, the BERC has imposed such licence fees in accordance with the sections 27 and 28 of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act 2003, officials said.
According the BERC provision, the users of captive or stand-by generators are to pay license fees varying from Tk 0.5 million to Tk 2.5 million per generator depending on their generation capacity
The country's major trade bodies and business associations have been demanding - either jointly or individually - the withdrawal of such licence fees.
After issuance of the BERC's public notice, leaders of the country's major business associations and trade bodies including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) issued a joint statement strongly opposing the imposition of such licence fees.
Expressing their deep concern at the BERC's public notice, leaders of the country's top trade bodies also urged the government to immediately intervene into the issue and exempt the users of own captive/stand-by generators from payment of huge amount of license fees by withdrawing and modifying the public notice.
But the Commission may consider extending the lime limit by imposing some financial penalty, sources said.
"We are yet to decide on whether the deadline for obtaining licences will again be extended or not. If we do so, then certain amount of fine may be imposed," a senior BERC official said.
The official further said the Commission will take a decision shortly on further extension of the time limit after evaluating the overall number of respondents to this effect.
On January 10 last, the BERC served a public notice, making obtaining of licenses mandatory for the use of captive/stand-by generators having capacity of 1 MW and above for all concerned.
Initially, the Commission set April 30 as the deadline for obtaining such licences, but later it was extended twice finally ending on August 31.
Until last Thursday, nearly 300 individuals and industrial units applied for obtaining operating licences for such captive power generators, the BERC sources said, expressing the hope that the commission would receive a good number of applications today.
Of the total, the Commission has already issued about 150 licenses to the operators of captive and stand-by power generators while the process of issuing similar number of licences are also underway, they noted.
A top BERC official informed the FE that the regulatory authorities were also brainstorming on reduction of the existing licence fees on captive and stand-by generators to be used for industrial and commercial purposes following strong demands from the country's top businesses for withdrawal of such fees.
"A committee headed by a BERC member has already been formed to work on the possible reduction of licence fees on captive and stand-by generators, which is expected to make its recommendations shortly," said the official.
The official further said after receiving the recommendations, the BERC will place a concrete proposal on the reduction of such licence fees before the ministry of law for vetting.
Responding to a query, he also said: "We are actively considering lowering the licence fees to a reasonable level in line with the appeals made by the users concerned."
According to officials, the BERC has imposed such licence fees in accordance with the sections 27 and 28 of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act 2003, officials said.
According the BERC provision, the users of captive or stand-by generators are to pay license fees varying from Tk 0.5 million to Tk 2.5 million per generator depending on their generation capacity
The country's major trade bodies and business associations have been demanding - either jointly or individually - the withdrawal of such licence fees.
After issuance of the BERC's public notice, leaders of the country's major business associations and trade bodies including the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) issued a joint statement strongly opposing the imposition of such licence fees.
Expressing their deep concern at the BERC's public notice, leaders of the country's top trade bodies also urged the government to immediately intervene into the issue and exempt the users of own captive/stand-by generators from payment of huge amount of license fees by withdrawing and modifying the public notice.