In an extraordinary instance of administrative negligence, rural power authorities in Madarganj upazila, Jamalpur, issued an electricity bill to a consumer before installing a meter or connecting his property to the grid.
The bizarre billing dispute emerged in Tegharia Bazar, located within the Char Pakerdaha Union of Madarganj. Nimai Chandra Sarkar, a local resident who already holds two residential and two commercial electricity connections at his property, recently submitted an official application for an additional commercial meter to accommodate his growing operational needs.
Although linemen have yet to mount a meter or extend service lines to the newly designated wiring board, utility clerks generated a billing statement demanding Tk 692 for power consumed during August.
An on-site inspection on Friday, 4 September, confirmed that only four active meters were installed at Mr Sarkar’s residence alongside a newly mounted, empty wooden wiring board. Nevertheless, utility staff delivered five separate billing statements to his address, including the Tk 692 invoice generated for the non-existent fifth connection.
The incident has triggered widespread bewilderment and criticism among local residents, who questioned how billing software could compute consumption metrics for an unmetered, disconnected premises. Community members urged senior energy officials to conduct a formal enquiry into local billing oversight and hold negligent staff accountable.
Reactions from utility officials further highlighted procedural lapses within the rural electrification system. Mokhlesur Rahman, in-charge of the Tegharia complaint centre, initially claimed that the bill was drafted following discussions with Mr Sarkar, before conceding that issuing a statement without an active connection was a mistake.
Attributing the error to technical glitches, Abu Saleh Md Nayeem, Assistant General Manager (O&M) at the Madarganj Zonal Office of Jamalpur Palli Bidyut Samity, stated that recent software updates led to system anomalies. However, he could not explain how unverified customer profiles entered the active billing cycle.
Meanwhile, Syeda Farjana Yasmin, Deputy General Manager (DGM) of the same zonal office, admitted she was unaware of how an invoice could be generated without a physical meter, advising enquiries to be directed to the technical controllers overseeing the billing database.
