Staff Reporter :
The Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has called for significant reforms in the country’s energy sector, including a demand to freeze energy prices for the next three years.
This demand, along with a set of 11 specific recommendations, was presented at a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Sunday, 1st September.
During the press conference, CAB also introduced the proposed Bangladesh Energy Transition Policy-2024, which outlines a comprehensive strategy for energy sector reform.
Among the key demands is the prevention of any unfair and unreasonable expenditure within the sector, and a commitment to maintaining current fuel prices for a minimum of three years.
The 11-point reform agenda put forth by CAB includes preventing unfair and unreasonable expenditures in the energy sector, ensuring that fuel prices are not increased within the next three years, developing a plan to preserve energy rights and ensure energy justice, forming a search committee for the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) recruitment based on participant proposals, removing all cadre officials from the boards of directors of various energy sector companies, terminating the Ministry’s authority to manage the power and energy sector, enabling direct participation of stakeholders in the implementation of BERC’s reform proposals, limiting the Ministry’s role to that of a policy regulator, with BERC overseeing the operational aspects, cancelling the Electricity and Energy Rapid Supply Act of 2010 and prohibiting the Uncompetitive Investment and Purchase and Sale Act, implementing regulations concerning the pricing of petroleum products, and ensuring that public energy services are provided without profiteering or corruption, and publishing the names of those involved in corruption and looting within the sector.
The speakers at the press conference expressed their willingness to cooperate with the new interim government to ensure these demands are implemented, thereby promoting transparency and fairness in the management of Bangladesh’s energy resources.