Shawdesh Desk:

The bulk electricity tariff would remain unchanged, said the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday.

The bulk power tariff would remain as declared in the order passed on February 27, 2020, said Abdul Jalil, chairman, BERC.

‘The commission did not have enough data required for declaring a justified bulk electricity price,’ said Jalil.

‘The economic impact analysis of an increase in the bulk electricity tariff was absent in the proposal placed by the PDB,’ said Jalil.

The decision on the bulk electricity tariff hike proposal placed by the Power Development Board on January 12, 2022 was due since the proposal was heard in a public hearing on May 18.

The BERC is legally obligated to announce a decision in 90 days of a public hearing on tariff change.

Consumer rights groups, including the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, called the bulk power hike proposal illogical, advising the PDB to cancel capacity charge and check irregularities, corruption and system loss to make up for its financial losses.

In February, 2020, the BERC increased the average retail price of electricity by 5.3 per cent.

The electricity price was increased 98 per cent in 10 phases in 11 years since the incumbent AL-led government assumed power in 2009.