The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is saving around Tk 80 crore in operating costs every year through digitalisation, while its bank interest expenses are projected to fall sharply from Tk 533 crore in FY2023-24 to about Tk 106 crore in FY2026-27.
The information came from a keynote paper presented Thursday at a programme titled "Trade with TCB" at the Golf Garden of the Army Golf Club in Dhaka.
Badrun Nessa Ahmed, senior research fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and a professor at the BIDS Graduate School of Economics, presented the paper.
According to the paper, the state-run marketing agency under the Ministry of Commerce has improved transparency, reduced the influence of middlemen and brought discipline to its operations through direct bank API transactions and the rollout of smart family cards.
Of the Tk 80 crore in annual savings, Tk 60 crore comes from collecting payments directly from dealers through bank APIs and Tk 20 crore from managing its own warehouses. Modern digital treasury management and direct warehouse-to-dealer supply have also contributed.
The keynote said TCB aims to deliver essential goods at subsidised prices every month to one crore low-income families across the country.
So far, 79.90 lakh genuine beneficiaries have been verified and entered into a digital database, and around 73.07 lakh smart family cards have been activated.
Through digital verification, including e-KYC and national ID matching, nearly 59 lakh fake and ineligible applications were scrapped.
The paper said this has completely stopped wastage and black-marketing of public goods.
For FY2026-27, TCB has set a large procurement plan worth Tk 8,000 crore. It aims to reduce purchase costs and raise total sales revenue by 83 percent.
This will allow the per-beneficiary subsidy to be cut by 17 percent, the paper said.
TCB is also adding profitable items such as soap, detergent, salt, tea, flour and spices to its product list for open market sales, which it said would help offset subsidy costs.
To simplify customer service, TCB has launched a smart app called "Upokari". Beneficiaries can use it to find the nearest sales points and receive notifications on product availability.
They can also collect goods, paying online or in cash, by scanning encrypted QR codes. The app ensures uninterrupted service even if a card is lost.
For round-the-clock service and grievance redress, TCB runs a hotline (09638 111 888) and a WhatsApp service that is active 24 hours a day.
In tendering and procurement, TCB has ensured 100 percent e-GP use and open bid opening. Security deposits and bills are processed digitally and paid quickly, making business easier and more transparent for suppliers.
Looking ahead, the programme was told that TCB plans to integrate other social safety net benefits into the smart card and use artificial intelligence (AI) for round-the-clock market price monitoring. It also plans to expand its own warehouse capacity, with the goal of becoming a fully self-reliant, subsidy-free organisation.