A legal notice has been served to the government offices concerned to take punitive action against the respondents who served abnormal electricity bills to the consumers.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua sent the legal notice on Sunday on behalf of Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
The notice was sent to the secretary of Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; chairmen of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB); and managing directors of Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (DESCO), West Zone Power Distribution Company Limited (WZPDCL), and Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO).
The notice requested the chairman of the BERC to direct BREB, DPDC, DESCO, WZPDCL and NESCO to stop collecting the illegal bills, to cancel the aforesaid bills, prepare new customized bills based on actual meter reading for each consumer, and refrain from charging late fines.
It also requested to direct BREB, DPDC, DESCO, WZPDCL, and NESCO to publish information on their websites about the amount of consumer-wise excessive bills, which was collected or prepared by them, on the basis of the illegal and unauthorized bills.
Punitive action needs to be taken against BREB, DPDC, DESCO, WZPDCL and NESCO for violating the order passed by BERC to fix the tariff of electricity on February 27.
The utilities must inform in writing about the action taken within five days. Failing to do so will initiate the legal action without any further intimation to them.
Open letter to the government
On June 30, CAB sent an open letter to the government demanding to cancel the reported illegal and unauthorized bills and to issue fresh bills for each month under the BERC guidelines.
It also asked to waive the late fee of the arrear electricity bills issued to the consumers for consumption of electricity during the pandemic period.
CAB in the letter clearly stated that the electricity bills are prepared by the distribution utilities based on the monthly meter reading and the tariff fixed by the BERC. They collect bills within a specific time and impose penalty for failing to pay the bills within the specified time.
If a consumer fails to pay the bills and penalty, then the distribution utility disconnects the line as per provisions of the law. They also provide reconnections of the electricity lines subject to clearance of all bills, the notice said.
However, during the Covid-19 pandemic period the government postponed collection of electricity bills for three months starting from March to May.
Subsequently, the distribution utilities prepared bills for the aforesaid three months without getting the meter reading and started collecting them. It was also announced that if consumers fail to pay the arrear bills within the specified period then penalty will be imposed upon them.
However, the distribution utilities have no legal authority to prepare the bills whimsically. Decisions on strategies to collect bills from different arrears – whether to collect through single transactions or step by step -- were beyond the jurisdiction of the distribution utilities, it also stated.