The rise in unfairness on the gas bill has been a cause of major suffering for the city residents in recent times.
Many residents of Madhya Paikpara in Mirpur in Dhaka is suffering from this discrimination since long. One of the residents of that area is using gas from the pipeline of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL), a state-owned gas distribution company. He has to pay a fixed bill of taka 975 per month as a post- paid user. Even if gas is not used for the whole month, he has to pay the full gas bill. On the other hand, even using gas from the same pipeline, another user spends only taka 400-500 per month, because TGTDCL has installed a pre-paid meter at his residence. As a result, he pays the bill for the quantity of gas he uses.
The sooner the smart pre-paid gas meters are installed, the
sooner the inequity of gas bill will come down and the
consumers will derive the benefit from it
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Experts opine that, if the gas distribution companies could ensure prepaid meters for all domestic gas users, around 40 percent less gas would be burnt as consumers would be frugal. Since it was not implemented, the country loses a huge quantity of gas, mainly through the burning of excess gas unnecessarily. Secondly, gas is being stolen through illegal connections.
Therefore, it is now essential to install prepaid gas meters in most of the buildings. It’s been almost 2 years that the government has opened prepaid gas meters for private competition market. However, due to lack of enough preparation and resources this decision has failed to click.
The government should develop smart prepaid meters in a way so that customers can recharge their meters through their mobile phones without the hassle of going to any vendor. The sooner the smart pre-paid gas meters are installed, the sooner the inequity of gas bills will come down and the consumers will derive the benefit from it.
