Broadly speaking, there are three types of tenants in Dhaka city.
The first group has individual electricity usage measuring electronic meters installed in their apartments. Usually, the monthly rent they pay to the landlord does not include the electricity bill; they pay it separately based on the usage.
The second group live in houses that have only one electricity meter for entire buildings. The owners of these houses therefore cannot calculate how much electricity the individual tenants have consumed. And so, the monthly rents generally include certain amounts, fixed whimsically by the landlord, as electricity bills.
The third category comprise the “mess” dwellers. These houses are basically inhabited by male students, working bachelors and married working men, who cannot afford having their families in Dhaka.
Dhaka Tribune inquiries have revealed that it is the last two categories – comprising mostly lower-middle-income and lower-income people – who will be hit the most by the hikes in the price of power and gas coming into effect on September 1.
Starting Tuesday, home users will have to pay Tk200 more for using single and double gas burners and an average Tk0.18 more for using every unit of electricity. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) made the official announced about the hikes on Thursday.
Currently, each unit of electricity costs Tk6.15 on an average. From next month, this will be Tk6.33. There are 10 usage slabs; meaning that the first slab – up to 75 units of consumption – used to pay Tk265 per month, and the 10th slab – up to 1,000 units – used to pay Tk7,626.
From next month, the consumers belonging to the first slab will have to pay Tk20 more, and those in the last slab – usually upper-class households with one or more air conditioners and expensive electronic and electrical gadgets – Tk133 more.
Roughly, over 40% of the consumers belong to the first three slabs who use up to 200 units of electricity every month.
Yesterday, Dhaka Tribune talked to Nafisa Akter, who lives in a building in Dhaka’s Azimpur which has just one electricity meter.
Soon after the government announced hiking the price of these utilities, her landlord said that they would have to pay Tk1,000 more from next month.
It is hard to know how much power Nafisa consumes every month, but she does not have any air conditioners or expensive gadgets at home and so chances are slim that she would have qualified in the top slab (up to 1,000 units consumption).
Even if she belonged to the top slab, her utility bills should not be more than Tk333 – Tk200 extra for gas burners and Tk133 for electricity. She has so far been paying a monthly consolidated rent of Tk13,000, which will now be Tk14,000. Nafisa’s landlord could not be reached for a comment immediately.
Elsewhere, in the capital city’s Sukrabad area, the owner of a single-apartment mess has announced yesterday that the six boarders will have to each pay Tk500 extra as rent. This means that the owner would be collecting Tk3,000 more from next month. In this case too, no matter how much power or gas the boarders use, the extra bill should not be more than Tk333.
Selim Bhuiyan, a boarder of that mess, said: “When we asked our manager why the rent was being hiked so much, the manager said it was the owner’s decision and he did not have anything to do. He also told us that if we are to live in that house, we will have to pay the amount, otherwise we are free to leave.”
This reporter also caught up with Shafayet Hossain, the owner, who refused making any such announcements, but said: “The rent for the apartment includes the utility bills. If the government increases the prices of electricity and gas from September 1, isn’t it simple that I will be compelled to increase the rent?”
Meanwhile, several consumers, who have dedicated electricity meters at home, have confirmed that there has not yet been any words from their owners about rent hikes.
Geeta Bhowmick, a tenant in Dhaka’s Nayapaltan area, said yesterday: “The rent we pay does not include electricity and gas bills. We have an electricity meter at home. Every month we get printed bills and therefore know exactly how much electricity we have consumed. We pay the electricity and gas bills separately.
“So, it would not be possible for our owner to charge us anything extra citing the price hikes as a reason,” the housewife said.
Unlike the transport sector where the government has some degree of control and can fix rates, there has been no or very little state monitoring and control over the rents that owners collect from tenants.
On July 1 this year, the High Court directed the government to form a high-powered commission tasked with recommending maximum and minimum standard house rents for different areas in the capital city.
This was the court’s response to a 2010 petition, filed by several rights groups, seeking directives for strict enforcement of the Premises Rent Control Act 1991, which is there to prevent owners from whimsically increasing rents.
The law also prohibits landlords from claiming or receiving any premium, salami, security or any other sum in addition to monthly rent unless consented by a rent controller.
According to the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), house rent has been hiked in several areas of the capital by up to 9.76% in 2014 compared to 2013.