A tariff schedule that hurts businesses

Published : Monday, 20 October, 2025 at 4:55 PM Count : 34

The possibility of an indefinite transport owners' strike in the wake of the Chittagong Port Authority's (CPA) revised tariff schedule—which imposed a punishing 41 percent average increase in service charges—was a predictable crisis. The result is that the transport of import and export cargoes has come to a standstill since October 18, with transport owners protesting the fourfold hike in vehicle entry fees. The CPA increased entry fees for all types of vehicles. For instance, heavy vehicles such as trucks and covered vans will have to pay Tk 230 per vehicle from Tk 57.50 earlier.

Business leaders are frustrated by what they believe is an arbitrary government move that has made Chattogram port prohibitively expensive and will likely severely affect Bangladesh's competitiveness. What is most puzzling about the tariff hike is that the government did not hold any proper dialogue with all stakeholders, leading to anger and suspicion within the business community. Some have alleged that the hike was enforced to favour foreign operators who are set to take over port operations. Transport owners are similarly worried as they are also having to absorb the shock of the enhanced fees.

According to a report, prior to the imposition of the new tariffs, the shipping adviser had a meeting with port users on September 21 when he deferred the decision to enforce the new tariff structure for a month, assuring further negotiations. But those negotiations did not take place, and the government declared the new tariffs effective from October 14. We fail to understand why the government chose to impose such a heavy financial burden on businesses and services linked to the Chattogram port at a time when they are already under considerable strain with the country graduating from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status in 2026, while absorbing the impact of increased US tariffs.

The RMG sector, in particular, is likely to be heavily affected by this unprecedented rise in the cost of doing business. Already, during the recent devastating fire at the cargo village of Dhaka airport, businesses—including RMG exporters—have suffered monumental losses worth an estimated one billion dollars.

The government, therefore, must recognise the punitive consequences of sudden tariff increases at a time when businesses dependent on the port are struggling on multiple fronts. We urge it to impose a moratorium on the new Chattogram port tariffs and hold meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders before enforcing such a decision. The country's competitiveness in the global market is at stake.

FP/MI