The government has redefined who may buy goods at subsidised prices from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). The commerce ministry on Tuesday issued the 2026 guideline on selecting TCB beneficiaries and selling essential goods at subsidised prices, Prothom Alo reports.
Under the guideline, cards will go to extremely poor families, low-income people, the landless, farm workers, day labourers, tea workers, rice-mill workers, factory workers and people unable to earn. Families headed by widows, divorced or abandoned women and poor older women, and destitute families with children or people with disabilities, will get priority. Only one person per family may benefit, and beneficiaries must be permanent residents of the city corporation, municipality or union concerned.
Each card-holding family will get two litres of edible oil, two kilograms of lentils, one kilogram of sugar and, subject to the food ministry's allocation, five kilograms of rice; the government may change the items, quantities and prices from time to time. During Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, subsidised goods may also be sold to the general public from trucks. Beneficiaries' details will be kept in TCB's service app.
Monitoring committees will run from district to union level; at union level tag teams will inspect dealers' shops and sale points. Dealers must display the price list in front of their shops, install CCTV cameras, and keep goods in TCB's own or rented warehouses.
TCB sources say there are currently 7.5 million card holders. Commerce minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir said recently that 5.9 million cards had been cancelled over irregularities. In the 2026-27 fiscal year TCB will sell 200,000 tonnes of edible oil, 220,000 tonnes of lentils and 110,000 tonnes of sugar at subsidised prices. TCB deputy director Shahadat Hossain said the new guideline will strengthen transparency and accountability.
Source: Prothom Alo
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