Rice prices have been under pressure this year, with global futures reaching their highest levels in more than a year on climate concerns linked to an emerging El Niño pattern. The subsidised sale programme of the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh is one of the few direct ways to soften the impact at the kitchen table for families already squeezed by the cost of cooking oil, lentils and sugar. TCB has two parallel channels, one for sales to registered smart family card holders and the other for open truck sales that do not require a card to reach those who fall outside the scope of the card system.
What’s In The Box This Month?
The TCB package for card holders now includes two litres of soybean oil, two kg of lentils and one kg of sugar. The oil is priced at around Tk200, lentils at Tk120 and sugar at Tk70. Rice is also technically part of the package, at five kilograms per card for Tk30 a kilogram. But this year, supply has been erratic, with some TCB offices in different regions reporting that rice allocations did not arrive at all in some months. Usually two soaps are also offered with the package, but they are optional to buy.
How The Card System Works
Over 1 crore families across the country have been issued TCB smart cards based on income eligibility through local administration offices. Cardholders are informed of their dealer point and the window for the sale that month, typically several weeks, with sales suspended on Fridays. Dealer points are divided between city areas and upazila-level outlets to extend access beyond the metropolitan centres, and the distribution is managed by the offices of the deputy commissioners in each district.
Truck sales Non Card Holder
Besides the card programme, TCB occasionally holds open truck sales in the major cities where any consumer can buy a limited quantity without registering. In Dhaka, this usually means dozens of mobile trucks parked at fixed locations like bus stands, market areas and residential intersections, each serving several hundred buyers a day on a first-come, first-served basis. Chattogram, Gazipur and Cumilla metropolitan areas generally have smaller truck fleets. Additional trucks are also deployed to district-level towns other than Dhaka during active sale periods. Each truck sells to a limited number of buyers each day, and queues start forming early. The points of sale are sometimes crowded and chaotic as some latecomers try to jump the queue.
How to Find A Sale Point Near You
The TCB sale points are not fixed and vary from month to month depending on the distribution cycle at the time. The best way to find an active point is through announcements from the local deputy commissioner’s office or district administration, which usually release dealer point lists at the beginning of each sale period. The sale points are usually in busy public places in Dhaka such as bus stands, ward offices and busy road intersections and are easy to spot when the trucks arrive for the day. Cardholders can also check the pick-up location assigned to them on the notification they received at the time of card issuance.
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What To Expect At The Register
The prices of the truck sale and the cardholder package may vary slightly and are subject to periodic adjustments according to the cost of global commodities. Therefore, it is advisable to check the current rate before setting off. Where required, buyers should have a valid card, arrive early as queues often form, and expect quantities to be strictly limited per person to ensure the supply is spread across the entire list of registered families or daily truck buyers.
Summary: With rice and cooking essentials remaining a strain on household budgets, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh continues to run its subsidised sale programme through mobile trucks, dealer points, and smart card distribution. Here’s a look at what’s on offer, how much it costs, and where families can find a TCB sale point this month.
