The Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) has been facing serious problems in its bid to recover the power usage bill arrears from a number of public sector clients.
Only two government organisations owe Tk 1.48 billion to the DPDC and nine others have Tk. 1.57 billion in arrears.
The Public Works Department (PWD) alone owes Tk 1.21 billion and the Disaster Management Department (DMD) over Tk 272 million.
A source linked to the recovery of the power bill arrears told the FE that despite formal communication, notices and hearings, they could not recover the pending electricity bills from these errant public sector subscribers. Only PWD has paid Tk 370 million last week out of the total overdue payment.
When contacted, housing and public works secretary Mohammad Moinuddin Abdullah claimed that the budgetary allocation by the ministry of finance (MoF) was not enough to pay such a large amount of utility bills as they have to manage the major establishments countrywide.
Of the major government establishments that fall under PWD are: National Parliament building, Ganobhabon, secretariat, government staff quarters in Dhaka, Prime Minister's Office etc.
"We do not have any scope to spend a single penny in other sectors deviating from the allocations made against different heads by the Ministry of Finance (MOF). We had asked for a special allocation and got Tk 800 million from which we have paid a part of the arrears with the DPDC," said the secretary.
However, a source in the MoF said various departments and agencies under different ministries do not place their budget proposals in time to the ministries concerned which hampers the process of seeking the required volume of allocation from the finance ministry.
Speaking on this issue, the PWD secretary claimed that the process of budget preparation depended on the block allocation by the MoF and it did not depend on them. "If the MoF provides us special allocation this way for next few years, the whole pending amount would be paid," he added.
The bills of DPDC have remained unpaid for a long time ranging between six months and 11 years.
As per a special taskforce report submitted on June 7 last, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) owes over Tk 24 million, Supreme Court Lawyers Association about Tk 23 million, burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) about Tk 15.9 million, Dhaka Nursing College over Tk 12 million, Eden University over Tk 9.8 million, Dhaka College over 2.73 million and Bangladesh Tennis Federation Tk 1.13 million.
DPDC sources close to the process of recovery of outstanding bills said they have been facing pressure from influential quarters for not taking actions against some of the defaulters.
DPDC special taskforce Chief Munir Chowdhury told the FE that through constant communication and pressure the DPDC has been able to realise a part of the total pending bills from the defaulters. He blamed factors such as lack of good governance and weak management are responsible for accumulation of such large amount of money in arrears.
"Our target is to realise the maximum outstanding bills by June this year," said Mr Munir.
He said DPDC is a commercial entity of the government and it has to make payments to the Power Development Board (PDB) against power-purchase. If the amount in arrears is not recovered, then DPDC will face problem in its operational activities, he added.
Relating to the non-payment of electricity bills by any government organisations to the DPDC, former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and an adviser to the caretaker government M Hafiz Uddin Khan said any organization, public or private, must pay utility bills in time to a company like DPDC.
There is no separate rule for the government department or agencies. Non-payment of utility bills is an offence, he added.
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Errant public sector subscribers owe large amount to DPDC
Kamrun Nahar | Published: June 23, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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