AKM Iqbal Hossain could not believe his eyes. His July electricity bill had shot up to Tk32,825, nearly three times his June charge of Tk11,537.
Downstairs in their Gausnagar apartment block in Eskaton, neighbour Rufiza Khatun saw her bill more than double from Tk1,667 to Tk3,564. Behind every door, the story was the same — bill shock.
While official electricity tariffs rose by 17 per cent in July, residents found their bills doubling and, in some cases, almost tripling overnight.
The spike was not caused by heavier energy use. Building caretaker Shahidul Islam said the meter reader visited on 21 May but later pushed a backlog of extra days into the following billing cycle.
Because electricity tariffs are slab-based, with higher consumption attracting pricier rates, the delayed reading artificially inflated July bills.
“My bill usually hovers around Tk18,000,” Iqbal told TIMES of Bangladesh. “I was surprised when June came in under Tk12,000, but July’s bill left me completely floored. The highest I’d ever paid before was Tk25,000.”
Iqbal said he was checking six months of bills before taking the matter to the Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC).
“I strongly suspect the meter reader isn’t logging the units properly,” he said.
Meter reader Suhaibur Rahman admitted the error, confirming that one bill covered only 21 days of consumption, followed by a bloated 38-day cycle.
Official guidelines require readings to be taken between the 20th and 30th of each month while maintaining a 30-day billing cycle.
Such allegations are not new. Meter readers frequently issue estimated bills for months before adding accumulated units near the end of the financial year, triggering complaints over “phantom” bills.
Bills based on wrong meters
Khilgaon resident Nazmatus Sadia saw her bill jump from Tk3,800 in June to more than Tk10,000 in July.
At the local supply office, she discovered that her bill had been calculated using the reading from another meter in the building. The Power Division admitted the error and corrected it.
Power distribution offices, however, remain crowded with customers facing similar billing problems, and not everyone receives such a quick resolution.
Endless queues, few answers
Monir Hossain went to the DPDC office in Adabar after his usual Tk10,000–Tk12,000 bill soared to Tk42,000.
“I’ve been back to this office multiple times, wasting entire days,” Monir told TIMES. “And I’m still no closer to a solution.”
Fellow Adabar resident Alim Sheikh faced a similar increase, with his July bill reaching Tk32,000, up from the usual Tk10,000–Tk12,000.
“I’ve been trailing back and forth for days,” Alim said. “Every time I show up, they give me a different story, but nobody actually fixes the issue.”
Within a few hours, at least 20 angry customers visited the office with complaints that their bills did not reflect actual consumption. Many were sent from desk to desk before leaving without a solution.
Ohidul Haque, an assistant engineer at the Adabar branch, said many complaints were resolved immediately, while customers were given explanations when no error was found.
He attributed the higher bills to hot weather, increased consumption and the tariff rise, but acknowledged that genuine errors were detected in five to seven per cent of complaints.
Hotlines go unanswered
The Power Division has directed distribution companies to investigate complaints and take action.
A public notice issued by the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on 29 June urged customers to lodge complaints at local offices or through official helplines.
The numbers include the Power Division’s central service, 16999; BPDB, 16200; Palli Bidyut, 16899; DPDC, 16116; DESCO, 16120; NESCO, 16603; and WZPDCL, 16117.
However, customers who have failed to get answers after spending days visiting offices have little faith that telephone complaints will bring results.
Protests over inflated bills
Public anger has also spilled into protests.
In Rajshahi, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon and Rajshahi Rokkha Sangram Parishad submitted a joint memorandum to Nesco’s managing director, demanding the cancellation of phantom bills, fresh bills based on actual readings, refunds and a dedicated complaint cell.
A high-level review was held on 2 July, chaired by Power Division Secretary Mirana Mahrukh. The meeting, attended by deputy commissioners and power officials, ordered the prosecution of staff involved in malpractice.
Officials, however, continue to downplay the scale of the problem.
Bangladesh Power Development Board Chairman Md Rezaul Karim claimed that meter-reading errors had occurred in only a few cases among the country’s five crore customers.
“Most of the complaints received were found to be unfounded upon verification. Many people’s bills had risen because electricity consumption had increased,” he said.
