DPDC charging for electricity overuse without approval

Additional units are being marked as “extra load” in the taking of higher deposits from the users. A subscriber, when taking a new electrical connection, has an allotted number of units as per his demand: This is called load. If the usage of units by a subscriber is higher than his allotted unit, the subscriber has to take permission from the electricity distributor. Talking to a number of subscribers and a few DPDC officials, it was learned that vested interests inside the DPDC are involved in covering up their losses under the label of extra load. In electricity distribution companies, losses due to subscribers exceeding their allocation are usually written off as “systems loss.” However, when the amount of extra electricity reaches high levels, they find it difficult to cover it up in this manner. This is because the DPDC buys a certain amount of electricity from the Power Development Board (PDB) and sells the electricity at the subscriber level. The amount of electricity supplied and sold at the subscribers’ level is documented on the sales record after calculating the systems loss. If the amount of electricity used by subscribers is too high, the DPDC has to pay more for electricity from the PDB. At that time, extra money is realised from subscribers by showing usage of excess units in the monthly bill, in order to balance the DPDC’s books. This collection of extra bills is unsanctioned, as there is a permission process before a subscriber’s allocation can be increased. In the wake of this, an organisation named “Bidyut Grahok Sarthorokkha Parishad” has become vocal against this extra bill collection by the DPDC. The organisation has asked the DPDC to give back their money or they would start organising processions in front of every DPDC office. Convener of  Bidyut Grahok Sarthorokkha Parishad SM Kader said a subscriber from Shyampur area of the capital was informed that his electricity bill for September was Tk2,250. He was then asked to deposit the same amount of money along with his monthly bill as overload at the DPDC account of Shyampur branch, without the prerequisite permission process to increase his allocation. The DPDC also asked many other households of the area to give extra money other than the monthly bills. After the subscribers started protesting, the DPDC extended the deadline of bill submission up to January 31. Meanwhile, officers at the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) said without the approval of the BERC, no distribution company can collect money from any subscriber. Md Maksudul Haque, acting chairman of BERC, said that the DPDC did not take any permission from them for collecting the extra money in the name of load. About the extra bill, Rakibul Hasan, executive engineer of DPDC Shyampur Network Operation and Customer Services (NOCS) divisions, said that the money is being deposited into a separate account. A lot of subscribers are using extra load. If they want to take the approval from the DPDC for using that extra load, it will take a lot of time. “So, for the benefit of the subscriber, we are taking this amount as a collateral for one time.” DPDC Executive Director (Operation) ATM Harun-or-Rashid said a subscriber needs to take permission from the DPDC for using overload. Prof Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), termed this extra billing an irregularity and said distribution companies have to take approval from the BERC to conduct any sort of financial transaction. Meanwhile, DPDC Executive Director (Operation) ATM Harun-or-Rashid sat with the Bidyut Grahok Sarthorokkha Parishadn yesterday at the Bidyut Bhaban to solve the problem. “DPDC authorities will discuss the issues in its next board meeting and will inform the consumer about the decision,” Grahok Sarthorokkha Parishad convener SM Kader said.