Customers facing abnormal electricity bills, unusual prepaid meter deductions or unexpected power disconnections can seek immediate assistance from Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC), which has urged them to contact its customer service centres or call the hotline 16116.
The utility issued the appeal on Monday amid complaints over “ghost bills”, deductions during prepaid meter recharges, power cuts at midnight or on holidays, and unusually long tokens generated after electricity tariff changes.
In a notice, DPDC explained several prepaid meter charges and procedures, saying it was aimed at clearing customer confusion and reducing inconvenience.
The company said a demand charge is deducted once a month based on the customer’s sanctioned load. If a customer does not recharge during a month, the unpaid demand charges are carried forward and deducted along with the current month’s charge during the next recharge.
The charge also applies to postpaid customers.
For meter rent, customers who purchase and install their own prepaid meters do not have to pay any rent. Those using DPDC-supplied meters are charged Tk 40 a month for a single-phase meter and Tk 250 for a three-phase meter.
A 5% VAT is also deducted from every recharge, in line with the government-set rate for electricity bills.
DPDC said customers may receive a 200–220 digit token during their first recharge following a tariff revision. The unusually long token is generated because the meter needs to activate the revised tariff and account for different tariff slabs.
The long token is required only for that first recharge. Subsequent recharges use the regular 20-digit token.
To reduce the hassle of manually entering long tokens, DPDC said it is working to bring prepaid meters online. AMI prepaid meters are already being installed, allowing customers to recharge without tokens through online platforms such as bKash and Rocket.
DPDC said prepaid meters have no mechanism to deduct charges beyond actual electricity consumption or generate so-called “ghost bills”.
According to the utility, electricity costs are deducted progressively based on actual consumption and the retail tariff set by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).
It said abnormal deductions could occur only because of technical problems, including issues involving the common neutral.
DPDC also clarified that electricity is not automatically disconnected when a prepaid meter runs out of balance during weekly holidays or “friendly hours”, which run from 4pm to 10am the following day.
During this period, the meter can continue supplying electricity even with a negative balance, which is adjusted from the customer’s next recharge. Customers can also use an emergency balance after their regular balance is exhausted, with the amount recovered during the next recharge.
DPDC advised customers experiencing abnormal deductions, billing discrepancies or unexpected disconnections to contact the relevant customer service or complaint centre or call 16116.
Customers should provide their meter number, customer number and other relevant information so that complaints can be verified and, where necessary, corrections and remedial measures can be taken.
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