Berc Act News Today

By Moshahida Sultana Ritu Earlier this month, the five percent electricity price hike and 78.2 percent gas price hike by the Energy and Mineral Resource Division raised concerns about the accountability of the government, and consumer rights. The December 2022 amendment of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (Berc) Act 2003 empowered the government to set […]

Latest government decisions regarding energy are textbook examples of regulatory capture

BERC public hearing: Since 2008, BERC started holding hearings on fixing electricity prices and natural gas rates. This ensured some sort of transparency and accountability of utility companies, and allowed the general public and consumers to look into their accounts and books, and judge their efficiency. A process was put into place where they had to apply and show the reason

Lack of accountability in energy sector: If the government itself fixes the price, will public interest be preserved? Does all this not point to a lack of transparency or accountability of the electricity generation and distribution companies?