The LP Gas Traders Cooperative Association Limited has announced a nationwide shutdown of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) shops for Thursday and Friday to press for higher commissions, adequate gas supplies and an end to administrative harassment.
The two-day shutdown is part of a seven-point list of demands announced by the association's President Md Selim Khan at a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday afternoon.
The traders are demanding that their commissions be raised to Tk 150 per cylinder or 7 percent of the selling price.
Selim warned that LPG shops across the country would remain closed indefinitely if their demands were not addressed during the two-day shutdown.
The LPG traders announced a seven-point charter of demands at the press conference, including an increase in distributors’ commissions, guaranteed supply from companies and an end to what they described as harassment through raids and fines by the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection.
Selim said the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, or BERC, had fixed the distributors’ commission at Tk 50 per cylinder five years ago. Fuel prices, transport costs, loading and unloading expenses, warehouse rents and licence fees have increased since then, he said.
The traders are therefore demanding that the commission be raised from Tk 50 to Tk 150 per cylinder, or set at 7 percent of the selling price.
In an earlier letter to BERC, the organisation said it costs Tk 50 to transport a cylinder from a company to a distributor’s warehouse. Loading, unloading and delivery to retailers cost another Tk 35, while employee wages, warehouse rent, electricity bills and other expenses amount to Tk 25.
Adding a Tk 40 profit margin, the traders are demanding a commission of Tk 150 per cylinder.
At the press conference, Selim alleged that although BERC announces LPG prices every month, some companies change their prices again after five to seven days, creating instability in the market.
He demanded that if companies want to change prices more than once a month, the revised prices should also be announced through the BERC.
The association president also spoke about a shortage in LPG supplies.
He claimed that, apart from six or seven companies, most operators are currently unable to supply LPG. Many companies have been unable to open ledgers of credit, leaving hundreds of thousands of cylinders unused across the country.
He demanded measures to refill those cylinders and return them to the market either through government initiatives or other companies.
Selim also alleged harassment by police during the transportation of LPG cylinders.
He said pickup trucks and lorries need railings to transport cylinders safely, and companies refuse to supply cylinders in vehicles without such railings. However, traffic police are filing cases against vehicles because of the railings, he alleged.
The association has written to several government agencies seeking a solution to the problem but it has yet to be resolved, Selim said.
The traders also demanded that companies state the actual price on invoices and pay fair transport costs to distributors when they do not deliver cylinders to their warehouses.
Selim also alleged that traders were being unfairly fined during drives by the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection and mobile courts.
Citing an incident in Bagerhat where cylinders were taken away from a distributor’s warehouse and a fine was imposed, he called for such drives to stop.
Selim said he had been in contact with BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed.
According to Selim, the BERC chairman said the traders’ demands were being reviewed and that steps would be taken quickly.
However, BERC did not immediately comment on Selim’s account of the chairman’s remarks.
LPG traders had also suspended supplies and sales across the country on Jan 8 in protest against administrative drives and fines. The strike that afternoon following a meeting with BERC and assurances that their demands would be addressed.
The latest programme comes amid allegations that LPG is being sold above the government-set price in the market.
On Oct 4, BERC raised the price of a 12kg LPG cylinder by Tk 252 to Tk 1,837. But cylinders are still not available at the government-set price in different parts of the capital.
Meanwhile, the LPG Operators Association of Bangladesh, or LOAB, an organisation representing LPG importers, has claimed that imports and supplies of LPG in the country are adequate.
The association has also backed action against traders selling LPG above the price set by BERC.