Govt bodies’ due electricity bills mounting
Staff Reporter :
The outstanding electricity bills of many state andautonomous bodies are mounting creating further monetary pressure on generating electricity in the country.
It is reported that due bills of the government bodies accounted for 25 percent of the total outstanding bills of power division.
According to source, currently Tk two thousand crore of electricity bills are outstanding with various ministries and departments of the government which was Tk 1,434 crore in 2018.
According to related sources, about 56 ministries and related offices are responsible for this amount of outstanding bills.
Among them Ministry of Local Government has the highest outstanding electricity bill –Tk 856 crore. Likewise, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief accounts for bills due of Tk 435 crore.
Besides in 2022 Power division owes Tk 8, 556 crore to the consumers across the country.
Out of this, 6,962 crore due bills are in the private sector, as per from ministry for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources in September last year.
However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic
Council (ECNEC) on 1 June, 2022 dir ected to disconnect power lines if any customer does not pay the outstanding electricity bill even after receiving a notice.
Energy experts said there is an allocation from the government to state and autonomous bodies on a yearly basis to meet electricity bills. What happens to these allocations?
The government is implementing the introduction of pre-paid electricity meters to the whole of Dhaka city (Chittagong too) in phases.
Why can't it do the same for these institutions? They questioned.
The electricity is being supplied to consumers through 6 electricity distribution companies across the country.
Meanwhile, a meeting was held under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary (Coordination) of Power Division.
In that coordination meeting, participants discussed the issue of global crisis and financial crisis in importing energy from abroad.
The concerned authorities have been instructed to increase the activity to collect the outstanding bills.
In particular, instructions have been given to send letters and regularly monitor the bill collection of government ministries or organizations, city corporations.
