The government raised the power tariff at the retail level by Tk 0.19 per unit, according to a gazette issued on Thursday.
The new price is effective from January 1.
Earlier in December, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that if the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) delays deciding on retail power hike proposals, the Power Division will make its own decision.
On November 21, the BERC raised bulk power prices by 19.92 per cent from December 1.
Subsequently, six power distribution entities submitted their respective proposals to the BERC seeking a similar 19.44% hike in retail power tariff at the consumer level.
But within a week, the Cabinet on November 28 approved an amendment to the BERC Ordinance 2022 to empower the government to set fuel tariffs on its own under special circumstances without waiting for the commission's public hearing and decision.
Earlier, the technical evaluation committee (TEC) of BERC recommended raising the weighted average electricity tariff by 15.43 per cent at the retail level against the demand of the distribution companies to hike it by about 20 per cent.
The committee suggested setting the weighted average retail tariff at Tk8.23 against the existing Tk7.13 per unit (each kilowatt hour) with a hike of Tk 1.10 per unit, reports UNB.
