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Consumers having prepaid electric meters are counting 'extras' as rental fees with electricity bills as the utility providers are allegedly charging for the device even after cost recovery.
Consumer-rights groups term it ultra vires as rental fees are being added up to monthly electric bills for an 'indefinite' period for the use of meter provided by the state-run companies.
The Consumers Association of Bangladesh protests the charging of rents for meters by the utility providers as the CAB finds it 'illegal' and a contravention of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) Act.
Sources say the state-run electricity-distribution companies go on charging two types of rental fees from the clients, even beyond the time needed for recovery of the price of the meters.
Those having three-phase (440 volt) electricity connections are paying Tk 250 per month for electrical meter, while those having one-phase (220 volt) connections are paying Tk 40.
But the price of a single electric meter provided by the utility services ranges from Tk 5,000 to Tk 6,000, says a senior official of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).
It takes only two years for a consumer having three-phase electricity connection to make full payment of the electricity meter if it is worth Tk 6,000 and around 20 months if the price is Tk 5,000.
Similarly, a consumer having one-phase electricity connection makes repayment of his meter in 12 and a half years if the meter is worth Tk 6,000 and less than 11 years if the price is Tk 5,000.
But the distribution companies, including the BPDB, Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Rural Electrification Board (REB) and West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDCL), are charging rentals from the clients for an unlimited period, consumers allege.
The companies are also pressing for increasing load limits of consumers although many of them consume less than their existing load limits, add.
When contacted, CAB energy adviser Prof M Shamsul Alam said the electricity-distribution companies are 'illegally' charging rental fees from the clients for long.
As per the BERC rule, every cost relevant to distribution, including that of electricity meter, should be included in electricity tariffs, he says.
"We raised the issue several times before but the authorities concerned neglected our appeals repeatedly," the CAB leader adds.
Sources, however, say that lately though, several electricity- distribution companies are opening up options for the clients to purchase prepaid electricity meters from open market of their own to avoid rental fees.
The meters must suit the billing systems of the distribution companies and approved by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI).
But most consumers are said to be unaware of the shift.
"If I knew, I could purchase prepaid electricity meters long ago to avoid monthly rental fees," says a resident of Mirpur area in the city, Faruq Iqbal.
"We the DESCO introduced the option of purchasing prepaid electricity meters by clients around one year ago," DESCO managing director Md Kawsar Amir Ali told the FE.
They can either use the prepaid meters after purchase or use the meters to be provided by the DESCO, he said.
DPDC will introduce the option of purchasing electric meters by clients soon, says DPDC managing director Bikash Dewan.
The DPDC board of directors took the decision to introduce the option recently, he adds.
A circular will be issued within next couple of days to initiate it in DPDC jurisdiction formally, Mr Dewan says.
Regarding the sanctioning of load the top brass of the electricity- distribution companies said the increase in load is necessary to avoid tripping of electricity transmission.
If the clients do not increase the load of electricity in line with their consumption level, it is very difficult to calculate the actual load of the consumer, they noted.