The government will conduct a survey on customer satisfaction about electricity supply through a firm to assess the performance level of three state-owned distribution utilities out of five.
The initiative has been taken because of the criticisms regarding frequent power outages and also to ensure better customer service. The survey is believed to give a clear picture of the nature and causes of public suffering related to electricity supply.
“We have already selected a firm named Midas Financing Limited after sorting a number of proposals submitted by different firms,” Power Cell Director (Commercial) Md Amzad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
The Power cell under the Power Division will supervise the survey after the appointment of the private firm, he added.
“A deal will soon be signed with the firm and after that the survey will start within six months,” Amzad said, adding that the firm would charge Tk40 lakh for conducting the survey.
The firm's survey would mainly focus on domestic, industry and commercial consumers to verify and evaluate the data on the frequency and duration of electricity outages. The firm would also examine the strengths and weaknesses of the utilities in respect to customer service and provide recommendations for better customer service.
The survey would be carried out in ten selected Network Operation and Customer Services (NOCS) division under both the Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Sales and Distribution (S&D) division under the West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited and four Palli Bidyut Samiti out of 72 under the Rural Electrification Board (REB). A total of 15, 000 consumers would be surveyed, 5, 000 from each distribution company.
The DPDC covers Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Dhaka (South) and Narayanganj areas and the West Zone covers 21 districts including Khulna in the southwestern region.
The REB supplies electricity in the rural areas.
Power Development Board (PDB) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), the two other state-owned suppliers, have not been included in the survey.
Amzad said PDB and Desco would not be included in the survey as PDB covers mainly district town based areas similar to the West Zone. “On the other hand, Desco covers the Dhaka city which is the same as DPDC and that is why there is no need to conduct the same survey in two companies operating in the same area.”