Ghost bills fuel public fury

A wave of abnormally high, and in some cases inexplicable, electricity bills has left ordinary consumers across the country reeling, triggering a storm of criticism on social media even as the country continues to grapple with heavy load-shedding.

Both post-paid and prepaid customers say their bills have nearly doubled or, in some cases, tripled compared with previous months – a surge that has come to be known online as the “bhuturey bill,” or ghost bill, crisis.

On Facebook and X, consumers have been posting side-by-side comparisons of their bills, describing sharp, unexplained jumps. Some say a bill that used to run around 800 taka has shot up to 1,800 taka.

Others report bills exceeding a thousand taka for homes that are locked up or standing empty.

Mohammad Sumon, a resident of Elephant Road in the capital, told this correspondent yesterday his household’s bill was 10,000 taka last month and has now crossed 20,000 taka – despite no change in his electricity use.

“I showed it to them. They said, look, you brought in the reading yourself, the reading is fine. My house is the same.

I don’t even have an AC,” Sumon said. He added that a ground-floor unit he rents out has sat empty for two months without a tenant, yet the bill has still climbed.

Sumon is not alone. Numerous other consumers in Dhaka, report that their usage has stayed roughly the same, but their bills have nearly doubled regardless.

Belayet Hossain, a resident of East Rajabazar told the New Nation on Friday that his bill this month was three to four thousand taka higher than last month.

“I heard online that the electricity rate has gone up – something like one taka 65 paisa more per unit. And now there’s no money left in the meter; it seems the meter itself is eating it up,” he said.

Prepaid customers report balances vanishing fast
Prepaid customers say their meter balances are being depleted at an unusually rapid pace after recharging, and many blame “demand charges” or other hidden fees for the sudden drain.

Some have started referring to their prepaid meters as a “thorn in the throat.”

Several consumers described their bills as simply doubling from one month to the next, without explanation.

“We don’t even understand how the bill has doubled,” one said. “Before, we at least got some electricity; now there’s load-shedding too, and the bill is higher on top of that.”

In one rural household, bills that used to run 1,000 to 1,500 taka are now coming in at 2,000 to 3,000 taka.

Issue reaches parliament
The controversy has moved well beyond individual households and into the national parliament.

Reserved-seat lawmaker Mahfuza Hannan raised the issue during this current parliamentary session, expressing outrage after her own household received a 25,000-taka electricity bill in a single month – a figure she called untenable.

When approached for an explanation, officials at various offices of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) declined to comment.

Student arrested over viral video criticizing government
The billing dispute has also produced a legal flashpoint. Police in Gazipur have filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against college student Sifat Abdullah after he was arrested over a Facebook video in which he criticized the government and Prime Minister over the soaring bills.

Golam Rabbani, officer-in-charge of Gacha police station, said Sifat was sent to court after the case was filed, adding that he had been arrested over allegedly derogatory remarks made about the prime minister and the government.

Sifat, a student at Adamjee Cantonment College, was arrested from his home after a one-minute video of him went viral. In the clip, he displayed his electricity bills, saying he had been charged roughly 4,000 and 5,000 taka in the past two months, and used strong language in criticising the government.

The arrest has drawn its own backlash. Dr. Tasnim Jara, a former National Citizen Party (NCP) leader, posted a pointed message on her verified social media account yesterday, calling on the government to spell out exactly what words, drawings or statements about a bill would not result in police showing up at someone’s door at half past eight at night.

She also called for Sifat’s immediate release, the withdrawal of the case against him, and amendments to the provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act that can be used to penalize speech.