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Average Billing

Six power cos ‘fleecing consumers’

Published : Friday, 29 May, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 409

Six power distribution companies are taking a large amount of money from consumers amid coronavirus pandemic in the name of 'average bill'.
Ignoring the tariff structure, ordered by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), utilities are sending bills to its consumers across the country calculating three-month average power consumption, which is completely wrong and an illegal procedure.
As per tariff structure, there are seven slabs. If a consumer uses the first slab or consumes 250 to 300 units of electricity a month then he has to pay Tk 6 for per unit of electricity. Due to the average billing, his consumption will be more than 700 to 900 units of electricity per month and he will not be able to      the lowest price slab of the present tariff chart.
According to the tariff slab, the consumers, who used to consume 900 units of electricity per month, have to pay Tk 11.46 for per unit. So, if any utility agency sends an average bill to a lowest slab user, he has to pay two to three times more to the utility agencies without using the amount.
According to new tariff chart, the consumers use 50 units of electricity per month will have to pay Tk 3.75 for per unit consumption, Tk 4.19 to pay for using 75 units of electricity per month, Tk 5.72 for using 76 units to 200 units of electricity, Tk 6 for using 201 units to 300 units of electricity, Tk 6.34 for 301 units to 400 units and Tk 9.94 for using 401units to 600 units. The consumers will have to pay Tk 11.46 for using more than 600 units per month.
Consumers of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) are the worst affected of the average billing system, a Power Division official said.
Consumers of all 80 Samities of Palli Bidyut Board (REB), DPDC, DESCO and all six distributions are facing same problem, the official said.
"We get almost the same scenario across the country, even we receive 10 to 12 times more consumption complaints from the consumers, it is ridicules," the official added.
Energy Adviser to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Professor M Shamsul Alam has demanded cancellation of such fake bill. "We urge the BERC to take action. If they (BERC) fail to take any action, we will go for legal action against the utilities.
"It would not be easy to take back any amount from any utility for a consumer. So, we have urged them not to pay any abnormal bill without settling the issue," Alam said.












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