Consumers across Dhaka say they are paying hundreds of taka above the official price for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), even as the government insists there is no shortage.
Private-sector employees Shahida Akhter in Savar and Rafin Ahmed in Rampura faced the same problem last week when their household cylinders ran out.
Shahida said the brand she normally used was unavailable and that she was told she would have to buy a new cylinder along with the gas.
“The month is almost over. At this point, I had to buy a new cylinder with 12kg of LPG for Tk3,000. Who do I even tell about this hardship?” she said.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) fixed the September price of a 12kg cylinder at Tk1,585.
But consumers say the regulated price exists largely on paper. Paying Tk100 to Tk200 extra had already become routine, while buyers now report being charged Tk500 to Tk1,000 or even Tk1,500 more.
Shahida said the unexpected expense would force her to cut spending on essentials for the rest of the month.
Rafin managed to buy a 12kg LPG for Tk2,000.
“I’m hearing that in many places they are charging even Tk1,000 extra. This is robbery,” he said.
Mahmud Hossain said he also found LPG selling above the official price at an outlet in Azimpur and failed to negotiate a lower rate.
In some areas, consumers say cylinders are unavailable even at inflated prices.
Md Faisal, a tea stall owner in Badda, said the contradiction was difficult to understand.
“Yesterday I saw in the news that there is plenty of LPG. But when I go to the shop, I hear there is a shortage. Which one should I believe? We always see things like this before prices go up.”
Power Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood, Energy and Mineral said there is no overall LPG shortage, although he acknowledged that artificial scarcity may have been created in some areas to charge higher prices.
The LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh (LOAB) echoed that view on Thursday, saying supplies were “adequate and satisfactory”.
According to the association, 1.58 lakh tonnes of LPG were imported in August and 1.56 lakh tonnes in September, which it said was sufficient to meet demand.
Consumer advocates, however, say the real problem is weak regulation and enforcement.
M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said a large share of the LPG market was controlled by a small number of business groups, making competition and oversight critical.
“An oligarchy has been created by these businesses. It is the responsibility of Berc and the Competition Commission to regulate or deal with this,” he said.
He also criticised weak market monitoring and the process of raising prices through committees rather than public hearings.
Attempts to contact the Berc chairman and the relevant commission member for comment were unsuccessful.
Berc sets the monthly maximum retail price of LPG and also oversees licensing in the sector. But despite repeated complaints that consumers cannot buy LPG at the official rate, no new enforcement measure has been announced.
CAB Vice-President SM Nazer Hossain said the failure lay in implementation.
“We have always been frustrated with Berc. They only fix prices, but they do nothing to implement them,” he told TIMES.
He said the energy ministry had recently instructed deputy commissioners to monitor the market, but little activity was visible on the ground.
“The instruction was issued two or three days ago, but we still do not see any activity or monitoring in the field,” he said.
