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A residential electricity consumer in Magura was issued a staggering bill of Tk506.83 crore for using just 235 units of electricity in a month, prompting the authorities to issue show-cause notices to four officials.
The bill was issued in September in the name of Aleya Khatun, a resident of Kechuyadubi village in Magura Sadar.
According to the bill, her electricity consumption during the month was only 235 units.
However, the bill showed Tk482.69 crore as a demand charge, along with Tk24.13 crore in VAT, bringing the total to Tk506.83 crore.
Had the bill not been paid by the deadline, it would have risen to more than Tk530.96 crore, according to the document.
In reality, the electricity bill for 235 units should have been Tk1,963, while the amount including the late-payment charge would have been Tk2,056.
Magura Palli Bidyut Samity officials said the huge bill was caused by an error after the customer’s meter was replaced.
Digits from the meter’s seal number were mistakenly entered in the demand-charge field, resulting in the unusually high amount being generated by the billing system.
The authorities subsequently corrected the bill, and the customer paid the revised amount of Tk1,963 on Tuesday.
Magura Palli Bidyut Samity General Manager Mahitul Islam said four employees, including Arpara Zonal Office Deputy General Manager Rezaul Karim, a billing supervisor, a billing assistant and a meter reader-cum-messenger, were served show-cause notices over the error.
