A Correspondent :
The Power Development Board (PDB) has started installing 1.39 lakh prepaid meters in four of its divisions in the port city under a pilot project.
The four divisions are Pahartali, Agrabad, Khulshi and MA Aziz Stadium, according to PDB officials, who said around 80 percent of clients in the areas would get “hassle-free” services once the project is completed.
The officials believe both the government and clients will benefit from the project, as revenue collection will increase and billing anomalies disappear. Besides, misuse of electricity will also be checked to a great extent, they added.
Initially around 5,000 prepaid devices will be installed in Agrabad CDA Residential Area this month, said the PDB officials.
Insiders said the PDB floated an international tender in February this year for the Tk 137-crore project. Seven international companies from different countries including France, Vietnam and China took part in the bidding, they mentioned, adding that China Hexing Electrical Company finally got the work, which has already supplied the 5,000 meters.
Contacted, Mohammad Moniruzzaman, Senior Assistant Director of PDB, Chittagong, said a similar move was taken for Agrabad area in the city in 2007.
As many as 5,000 clients were given prepaid meters, but the prepaid billing system was scrapped for some reasons.
Many of those clients were forced to reinstall post-paid meters as they did not get any replacement once the prepaid ones started malfunctioning, he said. However, around 15,000 clients have been using prepaid electricity in Khulshi area under the supervision of a private company since 2007, added Moniruzzaman.
“This time the company will replace the meters in case of any mechanical or any other problems,” he mentioned.
Kamal Uddin, project director of Prepayment Metering Project for Distribution Southern Zone (Phase-1), PDB, said the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project in 2009. After a year the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources took a decision of unified specification of prepaid meters throughout the country, he added.
“We received the unified specification prepaid metering document from the ministry’s Power Division and floated an international tender in February last year,” Kamal said.
As per the conditions of the tender, the company will supply and install 1.39 lakh prepaid meters by December next year and also provide three-year operational services, he said, adding that each meter will have a three-year warranty.
