A total of 139,000 power subscribers of Chittagong will be brought under pre-paid meter system from January next, according to Power Development Board (PDB) sources.
They said the installation of 139,000 pre-paid meters in Chittagong is part of PDB's move to set up 2.2m pre-paid meters across the country for checking system loss and pilferage of power and outstanding bills, reports BSS.
PDB and Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) are jointly implementing the project at an estimated cost of Tk490m.
“The preparation of unified pre-paid software is now at the final stage and if everything goes on, 139,000 power subscribers of Chittagong will be brought under pre-paid meter from January next,†said Belayet Hossain, Project Director of Pre-Paid Meter.
He said the post-paid meters will be removed and all the 650,000 power subscribers of Chittagong will be brought under pre- paid meter in phases.
The PDB is implementing the installation of pre-paid meter throughout the country and sufferings of the power subscribers of Chittagong will be minimized on completion of the project, said PDB Engineer of Chittagong office Uday Shekhar Dutta.
Sources within PDB said PDB launched a pilot project in 2008 to bring 20,000 power subscribers of Chittagong under pre-paid meter. But the project remained stalled for long time and it (project) started again in 2012, they said.
