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ask the government how much subsidy support it is willing to provide.

Based on that decision, it will determine wholesale and transmission tariffs before finalising the retail electricity price.

Officials involved in the process said the new electricity tariffs may come into effect from June 1.

Stakeholders can submit written opinions to the commission until May 23.

Yesterday’s hearing covered proposals from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB), the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB), Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), Dhaka Electricity Supply (Desco), Northern Electricity Supply (Nesco) and West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC).

The companies sought retail tariff hikes ranging from Tk 0.85 to Tk 2.05 per unit.

During the hearing, distribution utilities also proposed redefining consumer categories, imposing new charges on prepaid meters, bringing private hospitals and educational institutions under commercial tariffs, and restructuring residential slab benefits.

The proposals drew strong criticism from consumer rights groups and industrialists, who argued that tariff determination based solely on utilities’ expenditure burdens consumers without ensuring accountability, efficiency or quality service.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed acknowledged that unplanned and unnecessary projects undertaken by utilities had also contributed to rising electricity prices.

Although these utilities are legally required to obtain BERC approval before taking up development projects, most projects were implemented without the regulator’s knowledge, he said.

So far, the commission has given post-approval to only one project, he said.

One of the most debated proposals came from PDB and REB, which sought to abolish slab benefits for residential consumers using between 76 and 200 units a month.

Currently, consumers using up to 200 units receive the lower tariff for the first 75 units.

Under the proposal, consumers using between 76 and 200 units would pay the higher applicable rate for their entire consumption.

The Technical Evaluation Committee did not make any recommendation on the proposal and left the decision to the commission.

If the slab benefit is removed, it said, a consumer who currently pays Tk 415 for 76 units would have to pay Tk 574, an increase of about 38 percent.

Ruhin Hossain Prince, former general secretary of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, said the distribution companies are trying to increase their income by cutting into the pockets of poor and middle-income consumers.

Around 1.54 crore consumers using between 1 and 200 units would be most affected, he said.

He proposed amending the BERC Act to explore ways to provide free electricity for consumers using up to 200 units during the ongoing inflationary pressure and recover the costs from other consumer categories.

The distributors’ proposal to classify private hospitals, medical colleges and educational institutions as commercial consumers was also rejected by both consumer representatives and the technical committee.

Industrialists also opposed any tariff increase, saying industries are already struggling with gas and electricity shortages, rising raw material prices and dollar volatility. They warned that further increases in electricity prices would sharply raise production costs and weaken Bangladesh’s export competitiveness.