Liquefied gas cylinders are being sold in Sylhet at almost double the price set by Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation in absence of proper monitoring over the market.
A dishonest quarter comprising some officials and employees of BPC distributors—viz. Padma, Meghna and Jamuna oil depots and their authorised dealers—is engaged in creating artificial crisis in the market that forced the consumers to pay high for the LPG cylinders, sources in the oil depots said.
Though a cylinder of LPG is being sold in Sylhet city for Tk 1,100 to Tk 1,200 against Tk 678 fixed by the BPC, there is no crisis of gas cylinders in the region because of easy availability of pipeline connection to the natural gas, the market sources said.
The state-owned BPC supplies cylindered gas through the dealers of its oil company Padma, Meghna and Jamuna. There are 32 dealers of Padma and 31 each of Meghna and Jamuna oil companies in Sylhet for marketing the LPG cylinders.
But most of the enlisted dealers do not exist in the city markets, even the depot authorities are not aware of all dealers as they did not enroll the dealers’ information in details, sources at the depots said.
Allegations have it that these dealers collect sufficient number of gas cylinders from the oil depots every month, but they do not sell the cylinders regularly to create an artificial crisis in the market, the sources said.
An authorised dealer Mahid Motors at Dhopa Dighirpar in the city was selling a gas cylinder at Tk 1,150 while Shahjalal Motors, a retailer at Ambarkhana, was selling the same at Tk 1,200 on Wednesday.
Being asked, Shahjalal Motors proprietor Abdul Quayum said they had to buy each gas cylinder at Tk 1,000 from the dealers.
‘We are forced to sell it at a high price as we have to bear the transportation and maintenance costs,’ he added.
A market monitoring and anti-adulteration mobile court led by the deputy collector (Nezarat) Azizul Islam fined a dealer and two retailers of LPG cylinders Tk 65,000 in separate drives on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Deputy collector Azizul Islam said they got evidence of selling a Tk 700 priced gas cylinder to the common consumers at Tk 1,200.
Mentioning the dealers buy a gas-cylinder for Tk 678 from the depot, Jamuna Oil’s local depot manager Anwar Hussain said they can sell it at a maximum price of Tk 700 to Tk 710.
‘Demand of cylindered gas is not high in Sylhet as there is pipeline connection of cooking gas. There is no crisis of LPG cylinder here,’ Anwar said.
Padma Oil Company depot in-charge Shahjahan Kabir admitted to New Age that they have got the allegation of selling gas cylinders at high price by the dealers. ‘But we can’t take action as we are not authorised to punish them,’ Kabir added.
-With New Age input
