Owners of CNG filling stations on Tuesday announced an 18-hour shutdown of operations on 30 July, demanding the government raise the profit margin to help them meet inflationary pressures.

They also threatened an indefinite countrywide shutdown from 23 August, if the government fails to raise the commission for selling gas to CNG-run three-wheelers.

They demanded a raise of at least Tk13.96 per cubic metre sale from Tk8, and said are ready to hold talks with policymakers.

The CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association placed the demand at its office in Bijoynagar in the capital.

The body’s General Secretary Farhan Nur claimed that their demand for sales commission hike will not result in increased profit, but only compensate for the surging inflation and operational cost.

The proposed hike will maintain the Tk1.98 per cubic metre profit margin fixed by a government committee in 2017, he added.

At the presser, the business leaders said they written to the energy regulator, and the ministry seeking redressal, but there has been no response. Permission to meet the energy minister was also not granted, the alleged.

Being forced to take up matters into its own hands, the association has formed a 12-member steering committee, with Amiruzzaman Chowdhury as the convener.

At the presser, Amiruzzaman Chowdhury said the authorities last fixed the sales commission on 1 September 2015, setting Tk8 per cubic metre.

Over the next 11 years there has been significant increases in consumer inflation, workers’ minimum wages, machinery cost, bank commission, government license cost, and the fees for leasing land from the Road and Highways Department.

The operational cost hikes have made it nearly impossible to continue business, Amiruzzaman Chowdhury said.

The sales commission must also be adjusted with future hikes in gas prices, the filling station owners demanded. The leasing fees for using government land and licensing fees also needs to be reduced to tolerable levels, they said.