Amid the ongoing lockdown, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has postponed the public hearing slated for July 7-8 on reviewing the pricing formula for fixing the retail price of LPG (liquefied petroleum gas).
The commission will announce a fresh date in this regard later, according to a BERC notification.
Sources said, the BERC had arranged the public hearing in response to proposals from the privately owned LPG operators to review the existing formula, which was fixed following a hearing in January.
The operators, which include LPG cylinder manufacturers, bottling plant owners, importers and traders, demanded an addition of Tk 224 per 12-kg cylinder while fixing the new retail price by the BERC.
They alleged that the existing pricing formula did not reflect the proper cost and assumed 'improper' profit of the private operators.
The LPG businesses, having the size worth around Tk 300 billion, are at stake as a consequence, they said.
There were discrepancies while calculating the costs in some five to six cost components of the operators which include freight, return on equity, margin of distributors and retailers, and in the pricing formula, for which the LPG operators were incurring losses, they alleged.
The price discrepancy has already aggrieved the distributors and retail sellers across the country.
The distributors and retail sellers have already suspended sporadically the LPG sales in the country's South West and North West regions, said sources.
They also warned of adverse consequences if the BERC endorses further any 'arbitrary' pricing of the LPG which deemed not 'suitable' to them.
The BERC has been fixing the retail prices of LPG over the past three months, under a pricing formula, which include cost components of the LPG operators, Saudi Aramco contract price, fluctuations of foreign currency, and change in the value added tax (VAT) rate.
But most of the consumers were not getting it at the administered price, consumers have alleged,
A 12kg LPG cylinder, being provided by the private operators, is Tk 891 for July trading, as per the BERC's latest order. The price was Tk 842 per cylinder for June trading, Tk 906 for May trading and Tk 975 for April trading as fixed by the BERC.
However, most of the consumers in Dhaka were buying a 12kg LPG cylinder at a price ranging between Tk 1,000 and Tk 1,100 over the past three months, traders said.
Azizjst@yahoo.com