Power regulator rolls back tariff hike for low-income electricity users within a day

Move follows Power Division’s urgent request citing impact on low- and lower-middle-income users

Bangladesh’s power regulator has reversed a tariff hike for low-income households, restoring earlier electricity rates within a day of the decision.

BERC has backtracked on its Wednesday decision to increase electricity tariffs for lifeline and first-tier residential consumers.

The revised decision was announced in a notice issued on Thursday.

According to the new decision, lifeline consumers using 0 to 50 units will continue to pay Tk 4.63 per unit, while first-tier residential users consuming 0 to 75 units will remain at Tk 5.26 per unit.

The revised rates will be effective from the June billing cycle.

Under the earlier order, lifeline tariffs were set to increase to Tk 5.32 per unit, while first-tier tariffs were raised to Tk 6.18 per unit, meaning an additional cost of Tk 0.69 and Tk 0.92 per unit respectively.

The BERC said distribution companies submitted applications on Jun 4 seeking a review of the revised tariffs for these two consumer categories.

Following a hearing, the commission decided not to implement the increased rates under provisions of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Act, 2003, and related tariff regulations, and instead restore the previous structure.

Earlier in the day, the Power Division said the new tariff structure announced by BERC did not fully reflect the rates proposed by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) for lifeline consumers.

It warned that the revised hike could increase electricity costs for low- and lower-middle-income households and negatively affect their living standards.

The division subsequently urged the BERC to reconsider the decision and formally wrote to the commission.

Within hours of the request, the BERC issued the revised order.

In its statement, the BERC said the withdrawal of the increased tariffs for lifeline and first-tier consumers would reduce revenue for power distribution companies, and the resulting shortfall would need to be covered through additional government subsidy.

The commission’s revised calculation showed that the weighted average retail electricity tariff would now fall to Tk 10.40 per unit, down from Tk 10.63 per unit.

All other components of the tariff order issued on Wednesday remain unchanged.

As a result, revised rates for residential consumers using 76–200 units, 201–300 units, 301–400 units, 401–600 units, and above 600 units will stay in effect.

Tariffs for industrial, commercial, irrigation, and other consumer categories also remain unchanged.

BERC conducted public hearings on May 20 and 21 on proposals from power distribution companies before issuing the revised wholesale, transmission, and retail tariff structure on Wednesday.

While tariffs were increased across all residential slabs in the initial order, the decision to raise prices for lifeline and first-tier users sparked debate as these categories primarily cover low-income consumers. The revision came within a day of the initial order.