For families in several parts of Dhaka, the gas crisis is no longer simply a cooking problem. Many households are paying monthly gas bills to the government authority despite receiving little or no gas, while also spending more on electricity, LPG, restaurant meals and other alternatives to cope with the shortage.
In Dhanmondi 7/A, residents said they had not received any gas for the past two months but had continued to pay their bills to Titas Gas.
In Lalbagh, housewife Faria Ahmed Borsha said her family had received virtually no gas for the past three to four months, although they continued to pay Titas Gas Tk1,080 every month.
This has become the norm in many parts of Dhaka, with households relying on alternative arrangements to meet their daily needs while continuing to pay for a gas service they are unable to use.
However, several Titas Gas officials told Dhaka Tribune that they do not have exact data on how many household consumers in Dhaka are not receiving gas.
Dhaka Tribune spoke to households affected by the shortage in Uttara, Pallabi, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Taltala, Dhanmondi, Lalmatia, Lalbagh, Shukrabad and Farmgate. Most said the shortage had disrupted cooking and forced them to spend more on alternatives while continuing to pay their monthly gas bills.
The acute gas crisis has caused suffering in many areas of Dhaka for the past two to three months, with residents facing additional expenses to cook food, heat water and meet other basic household needs.
This has raised a question among consumers: Who will compensate them for the additional financial burden when they are paying their monthly gas bills but receiving little or no gas?
Lalbagh resident Faria Ahmed Borsha said gas sometimes came at night, but the pressure was too low for cooking.
“Sometimes gas comes at night, but the pressure is too low to cook,” she said.
To cope with the shortage, her family spent around Tk4,000 on an electric stove, which has pushed up their electricity bill.
“Previously, our monthly electricity bill was around Tk2,000. Since we started using the electric stove, it has averaged around Tk4,000,” Faria said.
For their prepaid electricity connection, the family had already spent Tk2,500 between September 1 and September 17.
“It is not only about the money. Food cooked on an electric stove does not taste the same, and it is not comfortable for cooking,” she said.
Her husband, Md Robin, said their household expenses had increased significantly because of the gas crisis.
“Our salary does not increase every month, but because of the gas crisis, we have to spend an extra Tk2,000 to Tk3,000 every month,” he said.
He said that around four months ago, they could occasionally get some gas in the evening, particularly on Fridays, but even that had become unreliable.
Another Lalbagh resident, housewife Fahmida Yasmin, said her family had faced the same problem for several months.
“Since Eid-ul-Azha, we do not even know when the gas comes and when it goes. For months, we have hardly been able to cook with gas,” she said.
As a result, the family has been using an electric stove, adding around Tk1,500 to Tk2,000 to its monthly expenses.
Residents said families with young children face additional difficulties, as they struggle to heat water, warm food and prepare milk without a functioning gas supply.
The problem is also affecting tenants in other parts of the capital.
Kamal Pasha, who lives in a rented house on Zakir Hossain Road in Mohammadpur, said the situation had become so difficult that he had even considered leaving.
His family gets up before dawn to cook when gas is available. At other times, they have to use an electric stove.
Although he cannot regularly cook on the gas stove, he still pays Tk1,080 every month to his landlord as a gas charge along with the rent.
In some areas, residents said gas pressure remains almost nonexistent during the day, forcing families to wait until late at night to cook.
For bachelor and private-sector employee Tapu Chandra Das, who lives in Shewrapara, the crisis has changed his entire cooking routine.
“Proper gas supply has been unavailable for several months. Sometimes I have to buy food from hotels,” he said.
He said gas sometimes becomes available after 2am and remains available until around 5am.
“On days when I have office in the morning, I stay awake at night and cook enough food for five or six days. Then I only have to buy rice from hotels,” he said.
But even that option has become more expensive.
Tapu said hotels previously sold rice separately, but many now require customers to buy curry as well.
“After the gas crisis began, some hotels also increased the prices of curries. A curry that used to cost Tk20 now costs Tk30, while one that cost Tk40 is now Tk60,” he said.
In some cases, he added, prices have remained unchanged but the quantity has been reduced.
For bachelor Shimul Hossain in Mirpur 11, the crisis has also affected access to drinking water.
“Because of the gas crisis, we are facing a serious problem with drinking water. Sometimes we have to buy water from outside. Previously, we used to boil water before drinking, but now we cannot do that because of the lack of gas,” he said.
He said he and his friends now use a rice cooker to heat drinking water, although that is not always convenient.
Some households said frequent load-shedding was also making electric stoves unreliable. In several cases, electricity goes out after cooking has begun, forcing families to wait for power to return.
Others have resorted to LPG stoves or traditional clay stoves.
Wider gas shortage
The household crisis comes amid a wider national gas shortage.
According to Petrobangla figures cited by relevant sources, daily gas demand is around 380 crore cubic feet, while supply has generally been managed at around 265-270 crore cubic feet. LNG contributes around 99-105 crore cubic feet, while domestic gas fields provide about 162 crore cubic feet.
The shortage worsened after a fire on July 21 damaged electrical systems at US-based Excelerate Energy’s floating LNG terminal in Moheshkhali, disrupting around 450 million cubic feet per day of supply. Contemporary reports at the time also said the disruption reduced national grid supply by around 450 million cubic feet per day.
Partial supply later resumed, but the disruption contributed to shortages affecting households, industries and power generation.
The crisis has continued to affect consumers, with Titas warning that severely low gas pressure would persist across its distribution network until the LNG supply situation improved.
Experts say there is no immediate solution to the country's gas crisis, but increasing domestic gas production could help.
The shortage is also hurting gas-dependent industries, including textile, knitwear, dyeing and finishing factories. Some have had to suspend production, while others are operating below capacity.
Advocate SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), told Dhaka Tribune that consumers should not be expected to pay the full bill when the promised service is not being provided.
“The government has committed to providing uninterrupted gas connections. But you are not providing that service. Then why should you collect the full bill?” he said.
He said the additional costs were particularly burdensome for salaried people, whose incomes generally do not increase regularly.
“There should be a specific plan from the government to deal with the fuel crisis. But we do not see any such specific plan from the government. We have never seen one,” he said.
He alleged that the government often resorts to unplanned price increases whenever a crisis emerges instead of addressing the underlying problems.
“We have seen this before when fuel prices were increased. The government raises prices whenever there is a crisis, but fails to resolve the crisis in a proper and planned manner,” Nazer said.
Asked about households that have been paying gas bills for months despite receiving little or no gas, Titas Gas Managing Director Shahnewaz Parvez told Dhaka Tribune that the company had no scope to waive or reduce bills because of existing billing policies.
“Despite Titas’s willingness to help consumers in various ways, we do not have the authority to waive or reduce gas bills because of the existing policies governing gas billing,” he said.
He said installing prepaid gas meters for all consumers could prevent such problems in the future.
“Installing prepaid meters is very important. If prepaid meters are installed for all consumers, this problem will no longer persist,” Parvez said.
Although Titas began installing prepaid gas meters several years ago, the program has yet to be fully implemented across its customer base.
Explaining the ongoing gas shortage in residential areas, Parvez said reduced gas production and supply had resulted in lower allocations for Titas, making it difficult to ensure adequate supply to households.
He also said the industrial and power sectors were given priority in gas distribution, with residential consumers receiving supply afterward.
“Gas is supplied first to industrial areas and the power sector. Residential consumers come afterward,” Parvez said.
He added that the shortage in residential areas could not be resolved unless the overall gas supply increased.
