Govt mulls late fee waiver extension as 290 face action for electric shocks over bills

The government is mulling an extension of late fee waiver for some more days as customers reel from electric shocks induced by inflated bills amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 5 July 2020, 01:26 PM
Updated : 5 July 2020, 01:26 PM

The power distributors are also taking action against 290 of their staffers over the exorbitant bills.

The government is considering the extension of late fee waiver for residential customers in order to dispose of the wave of complaints over inflated bills first, Power Secretary Sultan Ahmed said at an online press conference on Sunday.

The authorities are looking into the complaints at the quickest possible time and no customer will have to pay for more electricity than they used, he added.

He briefed the media about the findings of six firms distributing power across the country in investigations into the allegations of inflated bills.

A journalist asked why the staffers will face action as it was the government that decided to make the bills on guestimates and adjust later.

The authorities are examining whether the officials neglected duty in making the bills, the secretary replied.

Bikash Dewan, the managing director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company, said there were human errors along with those in the process of making the bills by collecting data and giving input manually instead of taking snapshots of meters.

The meter readers have begun going door to door to check the use of electricity for the month of June after the government ended the nationwide lockdown over the coronavirus outbreak.