TCB resumes subsidised essentials sales after two-month hiatus

Business Report :

The state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will resume sales of subsidised essentials to low-income consumers on Saturday, ending a suspension of more than two months.
TCB confirmed the development in a statement issued on Friday, noting that, in a departure from long-standing practice, no trucks will operate inside Dhaka city this time. Instead, a total of 61 trucks will distribute goods in various districts every day except Fridays until the end of November.

Under the interim government, TCB has been supplying essential items on a regular basis to eligible low-income families through its digital family card programme. It also conducts truck-based sales for non-registered beneficiaries during special occasions such as Ramadan and Eid-ul-Azha.

However, due to surging inflation and growing pressure on poor households, the truck-based sales continued beyond those occasions until 13 September. The programme was then halted because of financial constraints.

Essentials to be sold
Under the resumed operation, non-registered low-income individuals will be able to purchase up to two litres of soybean oil at Tk115 per litre, one kilogram of sugar at Tk80, and two kilograms of lentils at Tk70 per kg.

These rates remain far below current market prices, where soybean oil sells for at least Tk190 per litre, sugar for Tk140 per kg, and lentils for Tk160 per kg.
Each truck will serve around 500 households daily throughout the 14-day programme, which will continue until 30 November.

Meanwhile, sales for approximately 60 lakh “digital family card” holders are ongoing. An additional five lakh cards are expected to be distributed after verification, as the government moves towards bringing one crore low-income households under its continuous subsidised essentials scheme.