DESCO proposes to raise its retail tariff by 12.18pc

The Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) Monday proposed to raise its retail tariff by 12.18 per cent on an average, reports UNB. At present, DESCO's average retail tariff is Tk 4.35 per unit (each kilowatt hour), which it proposes raising to Tk 4.88 per unit. On the proposal, the BERC held a public hearing Sunday to receive the views of other stakeholders on the issue. After detailed analysis of the DESCO proposal, the BERC Director Bazlur Rahman said there is no justification for raising the retail electricity tariff, as the company has been making enough profits through its business. But, BERC Chairman Syed Yusuf Hossain said that some other distribution companies have also placed their respective proposals to raise the retail electricity tariff. After taking all the proposals into account, the commission will make a decision. In the proposal, DESCO sought raising the retail tariff by 3.63 to 13.68 per cent, considering different categories of its consumer groups. It also proposed increasing the service and demand charges and imposing a 5.0 per cent penalty charge for bill defaulting consumers. The DESCO is now operating at Mirpur, Gulshan, Banani, Uttara and Tongi areas of the city with its 400,000 consumers. DESCO Managing Director Manzur Rahman placed the proposal while Director Shah Alam participated in the hearing. Consumers Association of Bangladesh Professor Shamsul Alam raised a number of questions about justifications for DESCO's tariff hike proposal. The BERC Chairman asked the DESCO officials to submit the clarifications on the raised questions by November 16 next.