In a bid to prevent misuse of gas and irregularities in billing, state-owned Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited is preparing to install 8,600 household prepaid meters in the capital’s Lalmatia and Mohammadpur areas.
“Titas Gas and Singapore based Itron Metering Systems Singapore Pte Ltd signed a deal yesterday for the installation of prepaid meters,” Titas Acting Managing Director Md Nowshad Islam told the Dhaka Tribune.
Under the “Supply Efficiency Improvement of Titas Gas Company” project, funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bangladesh government, some 8,600 prepaid meters will be installed by March 2015, he said.
“Meters will be imported from France in August and the installation will start afterwards,” he stated.
The deal was signed at the Titas Gas Bhaban in the city by Titas Secretary Mostaque Ahmed and Senior Director Sales of Itron Metering Systems Singapore Pte Ltd Malcolm Munro.
The project has been estimated to cost about Tk11.5 crore, and of that, ADB will provide Tk8 crore.
Titas Gas also plans to install more 500,000 household prepaid meters in the future, which will be financed by ADB and its own funds.
Official sources said some Titas officials do not want the prepaid gas meters to be installed, as they will not be able to make the “extra cash” by tampering bills as they are doing now.
Although consumers will not be charged for their prepaid meter installations, they will have to pay in advance before using it. Subscribers will also receive a smart card to pay their gas bills.
For household usages, the price has been set at Tk5.16 per cubic feet. When a household consumes around 90% of the prepaid balance, the meter will issue an alarm.
A subscriber can also recharge their balance, starting from Tk50, from the company’s Lalmatia office, even during the public holidays.
On January 11, 2012, some 4,500 household prepaid gas meters were installed in Mohammadpur and Lalmatia under the pilot project.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) provided technical support for the project.
However, consumers of the prepaid gas meters have alleged that the meters provided by the state-run agency often stop working and they face problems in paying bills in due time.
Titas supplies gas to Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narasingdi,Manikganj, Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Sherpur, Jamalpur and Kishoreganj. Of its 1.6 million clients, the majority of them, some 1.55 million, are household users.
