Decision on 6-hour closure of CNG filling stations today

State-owned Petrobangla will announce its final decision on Tuesday on the government’s plan to keep all CNG filling stations across the country closed for 6-hours every day.

The decision will be announced following a meeting between Petrobangla and concerned stakeholders at its boardroom at 11:00 am on Tuesday.

Earlier on July 19, a virtual meeting of the power ministry decided that all CNG filling stations across the country will remain closed during peak hours, from 5:00pm to 11:00pm.

Mir Mohammad Aslam Uddin, public relations officer of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, told The Business Post that the decision was taken to ease the pressure on gas-fired power plants connected to the national grid during peak hours.

Talking to The Business Post, Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owner Association General Secretary Farhan Noor said, “Although we were classified as an emergency service during the Covid-induced lockdown, it was very hard for us to meet our expenses and pay our employees as there were very little vehicles on the road during that period.”

“Therefore, a decision to keep CNG stations closed for six hours every day now will be a great obstacle in recovering our losses.”

Saying that stakeholders were not consulted before the circular was issued, he also said that the association will raise their demand to minimise the daily closure period during the Petrobangla meeting.