High Court asks why power price hike shouldn’t be deemed illegal

The High Court has issued a rule asking why it should not declare the recent decisions to raise the price of wholesale and retail electricity to be illegal.

Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal made the rule after an initial hearing of a petition from the Consumer Association of Bangladesh on Sunday.

The petition was filed on behalf of the pro-consumer group by CAB convener and architect Mubasshar Hussein on May 23.

Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua represented the petitioners at the hearing while Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Saju represented the state.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, the BERC chairman and the power and mineral resources secretary must respond to the rule within four weeks.

The BERC raised the price of electricity by Tk 0.35 per unit, or 5.3 percent. The price hike was implemented in December.

The use of 75 units by households per month raised costs by Tk 15, 100 units cost an additional Tk 22, 150 units cost Tk 48 more, 250 units cost Tk 90 more, 350 units cost Tk 137 more, 450 units cost an additional Tk 196 and 1,000 units cost Tk 604 more, according to BERC’s calculations.

But the removal of a minimum price meant that those using less than 15 units would receive a discount between Tk 17 to Tk 22.

The BERC’s price hike has so far only applied to the retail power sector and not to wholesale power distribution centres.

The BERC held public hearings on the price hike between Sept 25 and Oct 5 of last year, said Jyotirmoy Barua after the hearing. According to the law, it had to issue a written order within 90 days of the hearings.

“But they did not release such an order and instead announced the increase in the wholesale and retail price of power on Nov 23. We have challenged this decision because it was not taken legally. The court has held an initial hearing and issued the rule.”

The government had previously increased the price of electricity on Sept 1, 2015 by 2.93 percent.

In March of last year, the price of gas in various sectors was increased up to 50 percent. State Minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said it was also necessary to raise gas prices in the power sector accordingly.

The BERC then set hearings to discuss the price rate hike in September.

In addition to proposals to increase the price of electricity, the CAB introduced a proposal to reduce the price.

CAB Energy Adviser Prof Shamsul Alam claimed that the BERC proposal showed the increase in the price of power was ‘unreasonable and wrong’.

CAB claims it has shown that the price does not need to be raised.