Home ›› 03 Oct 2022 ›› Front
Suppliers of Liquefied Petroleum Gas continue to ignore the prices the Bangladesh Energy Commission sets every month considering the global price of the fuel.
The commission on Sunday lowered the price per kg LPG by Tk 1.87 for October which came into effect at 6:00pm on the day. With this, the new price for a 12kg cylinder of private companies is now Tk 1,200 which was Tk 1,235 in September. Meanwhile, the price of 12.5 kg cylinders of government companies remained unchanged at Tk 592, said Abdul Jalil, acting chairman of BERC, in a virtual press conference on Sunday afternoon.
Despite the fresh price adjustment, a 12-kg LPG cylinder is selling at least Tk 200 to Tk 250 higher than the BERC set price in the local.
BERC fixed per kg LPG price in October at Tk 101.1, which was Tk 102.88 in September.
The commission also fixed the price of autogas used in vehicles at Tk 55.92 per litre for October, which was Tk 57.55 in September. The price has decreased by Tk 1.63 per litre in October than September.
BERC chairman Abdul Jalil said they adjusted the price after international market prices of butane and propane, raw materials of LPG, decreased as per Saudi contact price.
Residents in different Dhaka areas including Kamrangirchar, Hazaribagh, Mohammadpur and Rampura told The Business Post on Sunday evening that the retailers are selling each 12 kg cylinder at Tk 1,400 to Tk 1,450 which is more than Tk 200 to Tk 250.
The retailers claimed LPG operator companies do not supply them gas at BERC set price so they cannot follow the government fixed retail price.
Responding to a question in the BERC’s press conference, commission member (gas) Maqbool E Elahi Chowdhury said, “We cannot take any action against LPG operators unless we receive a written complaint.”
Asked why the operators cannot follow the government order, LPG Operators of Bangladesh (LOAB) President Azam J Chowdhury recently told The Business Post, “The BERC is not an efficient body for fixing LPG prices because its officials do not have a clear idea of the global LPG market.”
“We will incur losses if LPG is sold at BERC prices,” he added.