Public hearing on LPG now on 17-18 Aug

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has set new dates for the public hearing on fixing the price of liquified petroleum gas (LPG), reports UNB.

As per a new schedule, the hearing will be held from 10:00am to 5:00pm on 17-18 August at AKM Shamsul Haque Khan Auditoriam of Bangladesh Institute of Public Administration (BIAM) in the city.

The regulator will try to complete the hearing on 17 August. If not possible, it will continue on 18 August, said a BERC notice.

Interested individuals or organisations have been asked by the BERC to send their proposals by 16 August to place it in the hearing.

The BERC earlier had suspended its public hearing on the issue scheduled for 7-8 July following the government’s directives against the backdrop of the countrywide strict lockdown that began on 1 July.

The energy regulator has announced the scheduled public hearing responding to the appeal of the LPG operators who oppose the present pricing formula for LPG.

The BERC, held its last public hearing on LPG price fixing in January this year, and first fixed the price on 12 April in compliance with a court order.

The LPG operators in the private sector allege that many of their cost components were not considered by the energy regulator while announcing the price.

As a result, their businesses have seen a huge financial loss, said Azam Chowdhury, president of LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB), a representative body of the operators.

The operators, which include LPG cylinder manufacturers, bottling plant owners, importers, and traders, demanded addition of Tk 224 for a 12-kg LPG cylinder as costs of the operators while fixing the new retail price of LPG by the BERC.

The LPG businesses, having a size worth around Tk 300 billion, are at stake as a consequence, they said. As part of the regular, the BERC fixes the LPG price at the beginning of a month.

For the month of August, the price of 12-kg LPG of private companies was fixed at Tk 993, up by Tk 102 from the current price of Tk 891 in July.

The price was Tk 842 per for June trading, Tk 906 for May trading and Tk 975 for April trading, as fixed by the BERC.

However, most of the consumers in Dhaka were buying a 12kg LPG cylinder at a price ranging between Tk 1,000 and Tk 1,100 over the past three months, traders said.