The fact that the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited recorded almost 13 per cent system loss in 2021 drew scathing criticism from almost all participants at the public hearing on the company’s proposed gas price hike on Wednesday.
The staggering rate of system loss speaks volumes about corruption, mismanagement, inefficiency prevailing at the company and stealing of gas by its officials, said participants, including the Consumers’ Association of Bangladesh.
The account of the system loss of Titas, the largest gas distributor of the country, was revealed in an analysis of the technical evaluation committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission.
The analysis was unveiled on the third day of the public hearing.
System loss in gas companies is very low globally and should not exceed 2 per cent, said the chairman of the BERC at the public hearing on its opening day on Monday.
The gas distributor, accounting for the distribution of about 60 per cent of the overall gas supplied, however, claimed the system loss to have been 2 per cent.
The technical evaluation committee said that its account was based on audit reports.
In an attempt to explain the high rate of system loss to the BERC, Humayun Kabir Khan, deputy general manager, Titas, said, ‘The main reason for the company having the system loss is that we received less gas than the GTCL (Gas Transmission Company Limited) claimed to have supplied.’
The GTCL is the main gas transmission company of the country.
BERC chairman Md Abdul Jalil interrupted at this point, saying, ‘God bless us! Don’t say you operate without using a metre to measure!’
It has been over a decade the company decided to install meters at gas intake points after dividing its operational area in greater Dhaka and Mymensingh into five zones. But the task has not been completed yet.
‘You are a thief and a corrupt. You are inefficient and waste resources. Correct yourself and the necessity to increase gas price will not exist,’ said Mohiuddin Ahmed, convener of Bangladesh Sahdharon Nagorik Samaj.
The distributor companies, including Titas, have also been asked to install pre-paid meters at domestic consumers end over a decade ago following allegations that people received less gas in piped line than they pay for that in monthly fixed amount.
Titas so far installed 3.2 lakh pre-paid meters for Tk 712.32 crore which, the commission heard from participants, took the per meter cost to over Tk 21,000, three to four times higher than the market price of such meters in other countries.
The government’s decision made two years ago to allow private companies sell pre-paid meters was not implemented by the Titas.
The participants in the public hearing said that Titas was reluctant to install pre-paid meters because it would seal a gap through which the company officials pocket millions every year.
A study, referred to the BERC, showed that domestic consumers with pre-paid meters reported having their gas consumption reduced to just half or even less compared to what they paid for in the fixed amount.
The technical evaluation committee also proposed to adjust the fixed domestic gas price by reducing monthly consumption standard to 60 cubic metres and 55 cubic metres for double and single burner, respectively, from the existing standard of 77 cubic metres and 73 cubic metres.
‘I fear that I will die waiting for Titas to install all these meters,’ said energy expert professor Nurul Islam.
The participants also took Titas to task for failing to stop illegal gas use, even at the heart of the capital Dhaka, and tried in vain to get an estimate of illegal gas users from its officials.
‘There must have been lakhs of illegal gas connections,’ admitted Md Haronur Rashid Mullah, managing director, Titas, as he blamed illegal connections and outstanding bills as major contributors to a liquidity crisis that forced it to seek 117 per cent rise on gas price.
‘Maybe 5 to 10 per cent of TItas people are bad. Bad the rest are good people,’ said Haron.
According to him, Titas owed Tk 6,000 crore to consumers, over Tk 700 crore to government users.
He gave an account of disconnecting about 1 lakh illegal connections since December 2021 and said that illegal connections are often re-established.
M Shamsul Alam, energy adviser, CAB, advised seeking help from intelligence agencies such as DGFI and NSI for putting an end to illegal gas connection.
‘You ask for a raise in price when consumers are satisfied with your service,’ said Shamsul Alam.
He also questioned the price hike proposal at a time Titas is regularly making profit, giving dividend to government and corporate tax and sharing profit with its officials.
Titas argued that it needed to increase its distribution margin for increasing manpower and implementing new projects.
The technical evaluation committee, however, found that Titas earned more than its revenue requirement and recommended for cancelling its existing distribution margin of Tk 0.25 per cubic metre.
The technical evaluation committee also recommended for cancelling the distribution margin of Tk 0.25 per cubic metre paid to the Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited because of higher income than revenue requirement.
Businesspersons, including representatives from textile, ceramic and transport sectors, also criticised gas companies for demanding an increase in gas prices when people are struggling to cope with Covid fallouts.
They feared further hike in price will bring down many of their businesses.
The public hearing will end today.
