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Dhaka Friday,  Mar 29, 2024

40 Percent Rural People Forced to Bribe for Power Connection

EB Reporter

Some 40 per cent of rural people the country are forced to bribe the officials of Palli Bidyut Samities under Rural Electrification Board to obtain new power connections, according to a government survey revealed on Sunday.

The survey also showed that some 15 per cent people had to pay extra money to the officials of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company to obtain new connections which is four per cent in 21 south and south-western districts under West-Zone Power Distribution Company.

Being employed by power cell of the government, a private firm MIDAS conducted the survey on customer satisfaction with the data collected between October and December in 2014 which also showed that some 85 per cent consumers were satisfied with the power supply.

Out of five power distribution utilities, MIDAS considered REB, DPDC and WZPDC for the survey with the opinions of a total of 5,000 consumers of the categories — households, industries, commercial spaces and irrigation.

A similar survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, considering the data collected in the past winter, showed that nearly 89 per cent people were satisfied with the power supply to households in 2014 compared to that of 2008 and 2009.

Midas on Sunday presented a summary of the survey report at Bidyut Bhaban in Dhaka where prime minister’s energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid and other power sector officials were present.

Admitting the findings of bribery for obtaining new power connections, the REB chairman Moin Uddin told New Age that such irregularities were not widespread in terms of the number of new power connections that were provided in a month.

He said that the authorities concerned were already in a ‘battle’ against the much-talked-about irregularities and customer harassments in the rural areas of the country.

There were no alternative but to bring the entire nation under grid connectivity in shortest possible time to battle the corruption, he said adding that the REB was now providing some 3.5 lakh new connections per month.

The survey also shows that some 13 per cent people are not satisfied with the level of service for restoration of power supply, six per cent people are not satisfied with the outstanding bills against paid bills, 14 per cent people are not satisfied with the amount of bills they are charged and 16 per cent people are not satisfied with the mobile or online bill payment mechanism.

In 14 per cent cases utility personnel do not respond over telephone, in nine per cent cases metre readers do not perform on regular basis and in 11 per cent cases people do not receive bills with the deadline of payment, the study shows.

It also shows that the frequency of power outages is reducing and the level of satisfaction was improving with the overall service.

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