PDB proposes retail tariff hike by 21pc in phases

State-owned Power Development Board (PDB) has proposed increasing the retail electricity tariff by 21 per cent while a technical committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) recommended it by 12.86 per cent, reports UNB. The average retail tariff is now Tk 4.35 per unit (each kilowatt hour). During a public hearing at the BERC office, the PDB placed its tariff hike proposal. But the BERC technical committee said if the retail tariff is raised by 12.86 per cent, the PDB will be at a break-even position on 'no loss, no profit basis'. The PDB, however, proposed fixing its systems loss at 12.80 per cent while the BERC committee proposed it at 11 per cent. The retail power tariff of the PDB and other distribution companies was raised by 5.0 per cent on an interim basis from February 8 this year following a raise in bulk power tariff by more than 12 per cent. Making the concluding remarks on the PDB's retail power tariff proposal at the hearing, BERC chairman Sysed Yusuf Hossain said the retail power tariff will be increased considering the condition of the retail consumers. Some other distribution companies' appeals for retail tariff raising now remained pending with the BERC. On completion of all the public hearings, the BERC will make a final decision on the issue, possibly at the end of the current year. Making a submission on their proposal, PDB officials said the financial condition of the organisation is getting worse due to increasing cost of its power production. The PDB proposed increasing the retail tariff in two phases by a total 21 per cent in first phase by 9.0 per cent and then the rest in the second phase. As per the PDB proposal, the retail tariff will go up to Tk 2.80 from Tk 2.60 per init for the users of up to 100 units of residential consumers while the per unit tariff for residential users of 101 to 400 units will be Tk 4.0 in place of Tk 3.46. The tariff for residential users of 400 to 1000 units will be 6.50 per unit against the present rate of Tk 5.93. The users of above 1000 units were proposed fixing it at Tk 8 per unit. For agriculture Tk 5.70 per unit, for industries Tk 5.70 as flat rates, for off-peak hours Tk 4.70 and for peak hours Tk 7.70 per unit and for commercial users Tk Tk 7.10, Tk 5.70 and Tk 9.20 per unit was proposed respectively for flat, peak and off-peak hours. The PDB also proposed to charge 2-10 per cent for bill defaulters per month.