Ghost electricity bills hampering public interest

Staff Correspondent: State Minister for Electricity, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that sometimes ghost bills can happen due to technical and non-technical reasons. He said that various steps have been taken to ensure that the electricity bill is appropriate.
Nasrul Hamid gave this information in the national parliament.
Nasrul Hamid said that there are 2 electricity distribution companies and 4 companies under the power department to supply electricity throughout the country. Total customers of 6 electricity distribution companies and companies are 4 crore 71 lakh. The state minister told the parliament to take various initiatives including installing pre-paid or smart pre-paid meters on priority basis to prevent ghostly or unusual bills.
In response to a question Nasrul Hamid said that the amount of subsidy in the power sector in the financial year 2023-24 is Tk 35 thousand crores. Of this, Tk 31,833 crores have been given. Out of which Tk 11,700 crores in cash and Tk 20,133 crores have been adjusted through bonds.
The State Minister said that Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) faced continuous losses from 1999-2000 to 2013-14 financial year. At that time the government had to give a substantial amount of subsidy. However, the government did not have to pay any subsidy on fuel oil from November 2014 to 2022-23 financial year due to the fall in the price of fuel oil in the international market. However, in the financial year 2021-22 due to the global situation caused by the Ukraine-Russia war, due to the increase in the price of fuel oil in the international market, BPC made a loss of Tk 2,70.56 crore.
The Minister of State for Power said that the number of approved LPG plants is 78. Out of this, 52 have received initial approval, 24 have received final approval and 2 have contracted with BPC.
Nasrul Hamid said that there has been limited load shedding due to the increase in electricity consumption due to severe heat wave across the country. Apart from this, load shedding is done for the period required for maintenance work. The government is striving to provide electricity on an equitable basis irrespective of urban and rural areas. Priority has been given to electrify rural areas during irrigation season.
The Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that 50 different types of gas wells have been dug by 2025. On completion of drilling of all the wells, an average of 618 million cubic feet of gas per day will be added to the national grid.