Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) recommended for not hiking the gas distribution charge of Jalalabad Gas Transmission & Distribution System Ltd (JGTDSL). The company would earn an additional revenue of Tk 34 crore in the current fiscal year 2016-17, claimed the TEC after evaluating the financial statement.
TEC claimed that the JGTDSL is already getting an additional Tk 0.13 for distributing per cubic meter of gas, which would generate a total income of Tk 167 crore in the current year. JGTDSL would require only Tk 133 crore to meet all of its expenditures, leaving Tk 34 crore as surplus.
Earlier JGTDSLsubmitted its proposal to BERC to hike the distribution charge from Tk 0.2508 to Tk 0.6245 for per cubic meter of gas. BERC has arranged the public hearing on TuesdayS at the TCB Bhaban in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar in response to the proposal submitted by JGTDSL to increase the gas distribution charge. The hearing was headed by AR Khan, the chairman of BERC with his two fellow members Maqsudul Haque and Rahman Murshed.
Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) energy adviser Prof Shamsul Alam said that, there is no reason for gas tariff hike while all the utility companies are making a profit. He also remarked, “The Company has no plan to increase the current number of its subscribers, even the company also admits that it has no need to enhance its manpower; so, there is no point of hiking the tariff.”
Different consumer’s right groups, Experts and trade bodies including Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association strongly opposed the price hike proposal at the hearing.