The High Court says it would strictly monitor the ongoing public hearing by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to hike gas prices.
It also observed that if corruption in the gas distribution sector can be reduced by even half then a price hike would have been not required.
The court also asked the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) to join a writ petition that challenged the legality of the public hearing.
The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader made the comments after hearing the petition on Sunday (Mar 31).
Petitioner’s counsel Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua told the media that the court said that it was not necessary to revise up prices if corruption at Petrobangla and Titas Gas can be cut down by half.
“If necessary, the court will also interfere,” said Barua before adding the court has even slammed the graft watchdog for its role in investigating corruption at Petrobangla.
Convener of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), Architect Mubassher Hossain, filed a a petition with the court on Mar 12, seeking to freeze the process of hiking gas prices.
During the Sunday’s hearing counsel Barua told the court that the BERC organised the public hearing for increasing gas prices in violation of relevant procedures.
As per BERC laws, the price of gas cannot be increased twice in a fiscal year, he argued, saying the commission raised the bulk distribution and transmission rates of LNG-blended gas on Oct 16 last year.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam stood for Petrobangla, the licensing authority of the gas distribution companies, and Advocate AFM Mesbahuddin argued for BERC.
They said the petition is premature as no decision has yet been taken to increase gas prices further.
BERC started the public hearing on Mar 11 with proposals by six gas distribution companies — Titas, Bakhrabad, Jalalabad, Pashchimanchal, Karnaphuli, and Sundarban — for a gas price hike at the consumer level.
Titas and Sundarban have proposed a 208 percent hike for the gas consumed by power plants, 211 percent for fertilizer companies, 96 percent for captive power plants, 132 percent for industries, 41 percent for commercial entities, and 50 percent for CNG-run vehicles.
They are also seeking an 80 percent rise in monthly gas bills for both single-burner and double-burner cooking stoves, from Tk 750 to Tk 1,350 and from Tk 800 to Tk 1,440, respectively.
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), a number of other trade bodies, groups, and people are reportedly demanding scrapping of the government’s plan to increase gas prices further.
They said the gas distributors’ proposal for doubling the average gas price — from Tk 7.35 to Tk 14.91 per cubic feet — is unrealistic, adding that if the price hike is implemented, it would wreak havoc on the country’s economy.