Inflated electricity bill: Power division task force recommends action against 287 officials

The task force formed by the Power Division has recommended taking action against 287 officials on 4 power distribution company across the country for failing to coordinate inflated electricity bill. 

On June 25, Power Division formed the task force, led by an additional secretary, to investigate the inflated electricity bills. 

The task force gave seven days to the power distribution companies to fix the inflated electricity bills, which ended on Thursday. They also said that actions will be taken against the officials if they fail to fix the bills. 

The task force recommended suspending four engineers and 13 meter reader supervisors of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC). They also recommended giving show-cause notices to 36 engineers. 

In Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco), the task force recommended the suspension of 2 meter readers. 

The Power Division task force also recommended the suspension of 2 meter readers of Northern Electricity Supply Company (Nesco). Nesco distributes electricity in 16 northern districts on Rangpur and Rajshahi. 

They further recommended taking action against 230 officials on West zone power distribution company limited, who are responsible for distributing power in the south and south-west districts of the country. 

Meanwhile, neither the Rural Electrification Board (REB) nor the Power Development Board (PDB)  gave any information on the parties responsible for inflated electricity bills in rural areas. 

DPDC already suspended 4 officials based on the recommendations of the task force. They also sent notices to 36 executive engineers, asking them to show the reasons behind inflated electricity bills within 10 days, DPDC Managing Director Bikash Dewan said. 

The Power Division will organise a press release regarding this at 1pm on Sunday.