Increase of Tk 40 for prepaid meter charge by Titas is unacceptable

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited has increased its prepaid meter charge by Tk 40 without any notice. It has not taken any permission from the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), the authoritarian body of the energy sector of the country. Consumers said the gas distribution company collected a charge in July at Tk 100 for every prepaid meter instead of its previous charge of Tk 60.

Imposing fees in different excuses by public authorities is not new, and particularly during this time when bureaucrats dominated the government. The severity of increase in the cast of gas severity has increased manifold. Last month, the government proposed to increase the tariff hike of gas at all levels. Besides, the increase in price of LPG almost every month is pushing many marginalized and middle-income groups into great difficulty.

The installation of prepaid meters began a decade ago but only about four lakh meters have been installed so far, keeping over 90% of the roughly 43 lakh residential customers away from the benefit. As the pipeline gas users have to pay a bill of Tk 975 each month for a two-burner stove, meter users only pay the use value. Titas has also undertaken two more projects to set up over 12 lakh meters as a part of the government’s plan to bring all residential customers under the prepaid system by 2024. However, the project is currently with the planning ministry for review. The BERC in its tariff rules in 2015 instructed the companies to introduce the gas meter system but they are not abiding by it.

We must admit that without people’s participation in people’s affair the bureaucratic arbitrariness will not go just because people’s sufferings are too much to bear. When public money was being freely squandered from banks and elsewhere, this bureaucratic government did not care about its consequence on the country’s economy. In this depressing economy, extorting money from the hard-hit people cannot be justified.

This government is out of control and of touch. We need a government which is competent and honest. Change is a must to have a government not dependent of thieves.