Bangladesh Samajtantrik Daal (BASAD) has strongly condemned the latest electricity tariff hike, accusing the government and the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) of ignoring public opinion and imposing an additional financial burden on people already struggling with rising living costs.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, BASAD General Secretary Comrade Bazlur Rashid Firoz said the decision had left people “shocked and concerned,” particularly at a time when real incomes have declined, unemployment has increased and prices of essential commodities continue to rise.

He noted that the government had already raised fuel prices twice and has now increased electricity tariffs, leaving even low-income electricity consumers exposed to higher living expenses.

According to Firoz, the impact of the tariff hike will extend beyond household electricity bills. Higher power costs will increase transportation fares and raise production costs across various sectors, ultimately pushing up the prices of daily necessities and placing further pressure on consumers.

Describing the decision as “unjust and anti-people,” the BASAD leader said participants at the public hearing, including consumer representatives and political leaders, had urged authorities to explore ways to reduce electricity prices instead of increasing them.

He said experts could have been engaged to identify alternative measures for lowering power generation and supply costs. If those efforts failed and a tariff adjustment became unavoidable, the matter could then have been considered on reasonable grounds.

“Instead, BERC and the government chose the path of increasing prices, effectively taking more money from ordinary people,” he said.

Firoz further alleged that the latest decision demonstrated BERC’s failure to act in the public interest and undermined its credibility as a regulatory body.

The BASAD leader strongly protested the tariff increase and demanded the immediate withdrawal of what he described as an anti-people decision. 

The statement came after BERC announced a 16.68 percent increase in retail electricity tariffs and a 19.85 percent rise in wholesale tariffs, effective from the June billing month.

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