The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) is going to fix the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for the first time to avoid the contempt of court rule.
To this end, the commission will hold public hearing on January 14, 16 and 17 on fixing LPG price, official said.
LPG prices have never been set nationally before. Concerned people believe that the initiative will help to prevent anarchy of LPG market along with ensuring a uniform price at the retail level and reduce sufferings of the commoners.
BERC chairman Md. Abdul Jalil said, "We have been trying to fix this price for so long. But it could not be done due to various reasons. Now we have started working under the order of the court. We have already sent a letter to the LPG marketing companies to submit their price proposal. After getting their proposal we will form an evaluation committee to fix the price and then public hearing will be held as per their recommendation. In this regard a schedule has been prepared for the public hearing.”
Earlier, on August 25, the High Court had directed BERC to fix the price of LPG through a public hearing and submit a report within 30 days after hearing a writ petition filed by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh CAB. Although a long time has passed since the order was issued, the Commission has not taken any initiative to comply with the order. They did not even summit any report to the court.
On November 29, the high court issued a contempt of court rule against BERC chairman Mohammad Abdul Jalil. The High Court bench order to summit report on the matter within two weeks. Besides, the next hearing of the case has been fixed on December 15.
According to BERC sources, after receiving the court order on Sunday, the commission has prepared a scheduled for the hearing along with a letter to the LPG marketing companies. It is learned that the decision was taken in a hurry to avoid the contempt of court rule. However, the question is being raised, is it possible to fix the price of LPG in such a short time?.
However BERC has recommended a 25 percent subsidy on the import price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for the operators to keep uniform and affordable prices at the consumer level to prevent anarchy on last month.
The government is discouraging natural gas connections or pipeline supply in the sector due to a gas crisis. LPG is recommended as an alternative to ensuring fuel safety.
The commission thinks that consumers of pipeline gas are getting gas at a much lower price than LPG. Therefore, it is possible to collect this subsidy by imposing charges on the pipeline consumers. This will not create financial pressure on the government or the people to subsidize.
The BERC also suggested that the operator should have the responsibility to reach the end users of the LPG cylinders, to check pilferage and use of substandard cylinders by the middlemen or brokers, thus putting a brake on accidents.
Distributors and retailers are marketing cylinders of multiple companies. It has no control of the operators. They can easily avoid the responsibility of accidents. Besides, many cylinders contain less quantity of LPG than mentioned. For this reason, BERC has given its opinion in favor of making provision for sale of cylinders of certain companies.
Some 212 kgs of wood is required to get the equivalent of 12 kg LPG. The use of wood is harmful for the environment. On the other hand, smoke is creating health risks. It is recommended to consider LPG as an environmentally friendly antidote for lung diseases.
In the international market, the price of this petroleum product has come down. For this, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has reduced the price of its own produced LPG per cylinder weighing 12 liters from Tk 700 to Tk 600 at the consumer level in the country. But the price of the same weight of gas supplied by private companies may be as high as taka 1050 to 1150. There are also price differences between companies and locations. In Kolkata, the price of a 14.2 kg unsubsidised cylinder is taka 704 (Rs 621) and the subsidized cylinder is even lower.
LPG is used for heating, cooking and auto fuel. LPG is relatively new in Bangladesh, but the demand is increasing day by day.
World LPG Association (WLPGA) sees Bangladesh as one of the fastest-growing LPG markets in the world, and predicts that demand for the fuel might reach up to 30 lakh tonnes by 2025.
According to the Energy Division, the total supply of LPG in January 2009 was 45,000 MT. At present this quantity has increased to 9 lakh MT. Of this, only 16,000 tonnes is being supplied by state-owned BPC. Private companies are supplying the rest. However, currently the yearly demand is around 15 lakh tonnes.
