by Asif Showkat Kallol (Dhaka Bureau)
In Bangladesh, one of South Asia’s most densely populated nations, electricity is no longer just light flowing through a wire; it has become a new symbol of survival for the common people. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) recently announced an average 16.68% increase in retail electricity prices. While the government claims this harsh measure is necessary to ease mounting subsidy pressures, human rights activists and ordinary citizens view the decision as a form of extreme economic violence inflicted upon low- and middle-income families.
The new tariff takes effect at the beginning of June. For residential consumers, the average price per unit has risen by Tk1.52, jumping from Tk9.11 to Tk10.63. In monetary terms, this represents the largest single-unit electricity price hike in the history of Bangladesh.
Tiers of Inequality: The Heaviest Burden on Common Shoulders
Although BERC claims to protect ‘lifeline’ or low-income households, an analysis of the revised slab system reveals just how deep the crisis will run for ordinary citizens:
* Up to 50 units (The most marginalized): Tk5.32 per unit.
* 76 to 200 units (The average middle class): Tk8.50 per unit.
* 401 to 600 units: Tk15.01 per unit.
The fallout from this price hike goes beyond the threat of dimmed household lights; it will exponentially drive up costs in the agricultural and industrial production sectors. At the wholesale level, electricity prices for distribution companies have increased by 19.85%, while transmission charges rose by 23.96%. Consequently, there are growing fears of another sky-high surge in the prices of everything from field crops to daily essentials.
Structural Crisis and Policy Flaws
Authorities defend the price hike as a way to curb the financial deficit of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). According to BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed, without this price adjustment, the projected deficit would have soared to Tk62,000 crore this year. However, a critical question remains: who is truly responsible for this deficit?
For years, massive amounts of public taxpayers’ money were funneled into subsidies for expensive rental and quick-rental power plants- and today, ordinary citizens are being forced to pay the price for those flawed policies. Future promises of full-scale generation from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, expanded renewable energy programs, or gas-based power generation cannot mask the severity of the current, immediate crisis.
Human Lives Consumed by Inflation
This successive spike in electricity and fuel prices (coming just 1.5 months after a rise in diesel prices) hits at a time when policymakers are drafting a new budget targeting inflation near 6.5%. This timing raises serious questions about the sincerity of the policymakers’ goals.
Pressenza believes that energy and electricity are not mere commercial commodities; they are fundamental human rights. When a state burdens its citizens with such exorbitant costs, it indirectly compromises their quality of life, nutrition, and right to education. Crushed under the relentless grinding wheel of living costs, ordinary people are left with deep frustration and rising social anxiety.
Today, colorful dreams of future technological reforms cannot hide the stark reality of darkened homes and empty pockets across Bangladesh.
##########
The Writer:
Asif Showkat Kallol: Works for a German-based online outlet, The Mirror Asia, as Head of News and is a Contributor, Pressenza- Dhaka Bureau.
