Tk 5.07b Power Bill, GM Suspended

The General Manager (GM) of Magura Palli Bidyut Samity, Md Mohitul Islam, has been temporarily suspended after a customer was issued an electricity bill of Tk 5.068 billion for using just 235 units of electricity in a month. Three other employees—a meter reader and two bill supervisors—were also temporarily suspended over the incident.

[Dhaka, September 30, 2026] The Rural Electrification Board took the disciplinary action on Wednesday following an urgent directive from Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud. After the incident was reported in the media and circulated on social media, the minister learned about the matter and called the affected customer to apologize for the unwanted incident.

According to the electricity bill issued by the Palli Bidyut Samity, Mst Aleya Khatun, a resident of Maghi village under Maghi Union in Magura Sadar upazila, was billed Tk 5,068,311,593 for September. However, her actual electricity consumption during the month was only 235 units.

The meter reading was 160 units on August 8 and 395 units on September 8, meaning the customer had consumed 235 units during the month.

Despite this, the bill showed a demand charge of Tk 4,826,963,422. Adding VAT of Tk 241,348,171 and a Tk 10 meter rental charge brought the total to Tk 5,068,311,593. The bill stated that the amount would rise to Tk 5,309,659,764, including a late-payment surcharge, if it was not paid within the stipulated period.

In reality, the bill for 235 units of electricity should have been only Tk 1,963. Including the late-payment surcharge, the amount would have been Tk 2,056.

The bill was issued on September 10, with September 29 set as the payment deadline. The customer category was listed as “LT-A (Residential).”

Mst Aleya Khatun said the bill was not only a phantom bill but also absurd. She said such mistakes by the electricity authorities increase customers’ anxiety and suffering and called for appropriate action to prevent such incidents.

At the Arpara zonal office of Magura Palli Bidyut Samity in Chukinagar, Shalikha upazila, Deputy General Manager Md Rezaul Karim acknowledged the incident. He said the abnormal bill was generated because, during the replacement of the customer’s meter, the digits of the meter seal number were mistakenly entered in the demand-charge field. He said the bill had subsequently been corrected and delivered to the customer.

Magura Palli Bidyut Samity GM Md Mohitul Islam said the incident resulted from a typing mistake. He said the bill had been corrected and the customer had also paid the corrected bill. Administrative action would be taken against those responsible following an investigation, he added.

The Rural Electrification Board’s preliminary investigation also found that the digits of the meter seal number had inadvertently been entered in the demand-charge field during the meter replacement process, resulting in the unusually high bill.

Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud told the customer that the bill had already been corrected and the proper bill delivered. He also requested the customer to directly inform the authorities if any similar problem occurs in the future.

The minister has also directed the authorities to take strict departmental and disciplinary action against other officials and employees found responsible for the incident.

//DBTech/TBP/SME/DPO//