Energy Division has no legal right to hike fuel price: CAB

The Energy Division has no legal right to raise fuel prices as the process must comply with the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) law, the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has said.

CAB leaders said this at a virtual press conference on Monday.

Earlier, two ministers had hinted at hiking fuel prices amid an increase in crude oil and diesel prices in the global market.

Professor M Shamsul Alam, vice-president of CAB, said the government was trying to increase fuel prices again after the hike in November last year.

“It wants to reduce the daily losses of Tk 99 crore. But if fuel prices increase, consumers’ living expenses, including transportation costs, will go up by hundreds of crores of taka,” he said.

Mentioning clauses 22 and 34 of the BERC act, he said the commission has all the rights to set the prices of petroleum products after conducting a public hearing.

Shamsul also said there are lots of corruption allegations against Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).

“If the public hearing starts, it will be possible to know how much extra money BPC takes from consumers for per litre fuel.”

In November last year, the government increased diesel prices by Tk 15 per litre, which was the highest hike since 2007. It raised petrol prices in January 2013 by Tk 7 to Tk 96 per litre and octane prices by Tk 5 to Tk 99 per litre.

However, the prices of both fuel types were cut by Tk 10 per litre in April 2016.

On June 15, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the decision on petroleum prices had not been made yet.

“You will be informed once it is made,” he said while talking to reporters virtually after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.

A day earlier, Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, also hinted at fuel price hikes.

He told journalists BPC was incurring losses of about Tk 100 crore every day due to fuel price hikes in the global market.