Consumers are right: Titas proposal to raise gas prices unacceptable

We completely agree with the views expressed by consumers at a recent public hearing organised by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to discuss the proposed gas price hike by Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd. Titas recently proposed to increase gas tariffs by 117 percent. At the hearing, consumers from various sectors—domestic, industries, power, etc—termed the proposal not only "unacceptable," but also "illogical." They asked the Titas authorities about the rationale behind such a proposal, and pointed out the company's failure to provide proper services to its subscribers. Reportedly, Titas not only failed to snap illegal gas connections, but also could not prevent gas theft and ensure uninterrupted supply to its consumers in all these years.

Meanwhile, the Technical Evaluation Committee of BERC recommended raising the gas tariffs by 20 percent on average, which was also criticised by the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB). They said this increase was not logical given the poor service the consumers get.

Gas shortage has become acute in many areas across Bangladesh over the last few months, and many gas-fuelled industries have been struggling to continue their operations due to severe supply interruptions. To solve this, the government decided to import more LNG at higher prices. Experts, however, have long advised the government not to go for more LNG imports, but to explore gas reserves inside the country to solve the shortage in supply, to avoid further burdening the consumers.

In addition, a large part of the problem can be solved by removing inefficiency and irregularities in the distribution companies. Reportedly, Titas—which distributes gas in Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions—has 2.9 million legal connections and nearly the same number of illegal connections. Titas employees are reportedly involved in conferring these illegal connections. Although Titas authorities claim that they regularly snap illegal connections, that hardly makes a dent in their number. They claim they can't take care of all illegal connections due to manpower shortage. If that's the case, why don't they recruit more people to do the job?

Additionally, CAB has rightly pointed out that the government, which owns 75 percent of the shares in Titas, could be reinvesting the profit instead of taking it.

The consumers at the public hearing raised some very important issues—questions that need to be addressed. Titas needs to answer them before proposing unreasonable price hikes.