Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) yesterday recommended that the retail tariff of electricity of the Power Development Board (PDB) be increased by 12.86 percent, against a proposal of 21 percent.
The average retail tariff is now Tk 4.35 per unit (each kilowatt hour).
During a public hearing at the Berc office in Karwan Bazar, the regulator's technical committee said if the retail tariff is raised by 12.86 percent, the PDB will be at a break-even position on 'no loss, no profit basis'.
The retail tariff of the PDB and other distribution companies was raised by 5 percent on an interim basis from February 8 this year following a hike in bulk tariff by more than 12 percent.
Berc chairman Syed Yusuf Hossain in his concluding remarks at the hearing said the tariff would be increased considering the condition of the retail consumers.
Some other distribution companies' appeals for raising retail tariff now remain pending with Berc. On completion of all the public hearings, the regulator will make a decision on the issue, possibly at the end of the current year.
The state-owned PDB supplies power to consumers of several divisions and districts and bulk power to other distributors.
At the hearing, PDB officials said the financial condition of the organisation was getting worse due to the increasing cost of its power production.
It proposed that the increase in tariff be made in two phases -- first by 9 percent and the rest in the second phase.
In line with the proposal, the retail tariff will go up to Tk 2.80 from Tk 2.60 per unit for the users of up to 100 units of residential consumers while for 101 to 400 units will be Tk 4 in place of Tk 3.46.
The tariff for consumers using 400 to 1000 units will be 6.50 per unit against the present rate of Tk 5.93 and for the users of above 1000 units tariff will be Tk 8 per unit.
The PDB also proposed Tk 5.70 per unit flat rate for the agriculture sector.
For industries Tk 5.70 was proposed as flat rate, for off-peak hours Tk 4.70 and for peak hours Tk 7.70 per unit, and for commercial users Tk 7.10, Tk 5.70 and Tk 9.20 per unit.
The PDB also proposed charging 2-10 percent per month from those defaulting on payment of bills.
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