Six gas distribution companies have outstanding dues of Tk 9,275 crore with their consumers, including public and private entities, as of January.
Due to this, undertaking numerous service-related initiatives is not possible.
It was revealed at a recent meeting of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division that the state-owned company failed to collect the bills from its clients of power sector, fertiliser factories, captive power plant, industrial, commercial and domestic connections and others.
The Division has instructed the General Managers of all gas distribution companies to go to the field to collect the bills. Failure to collect the bill for any reason, might have negative effects on ACR (Annual Confidential Report) of the officials.
According to Energy Division, out of the total arrears of the six gas distribution companies, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited (TGTDCL) has outstanding dues of Tk 6,639.57 crore, which is the highest. The outstanding dues of Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited is Tk 815.50 crore, that of Karnafuli Gas Distribution Company Limited Tk 805.97 crore, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited Tk 739.4 crore, Sundarbans Gas Company Limited Tk 176.46 crore and Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited Tk 99.02 crore.
Engr. Md. Haronur Rashid Mollah, Managing Director of TGTDCL said at the meeting that Titas had total outstanding dues of Tk 6,639.57 crore. The due amount includes Tk 743 crore from government entities while Tk 5,896 crore from private entities.
He said that due to the lawsuit, the company is not able to collect the outstanding gas bills of around Tk 1,316 crore. Of these, Average Power and United Power - the two companies have arrears of around taka 700 crore.
Mahabub Hossain, Senior Secretary of Energy Division, directed the managing directors of all gas distribution companies to send monthly sales arrears and the previous month's arrears and collections to the table separately to strengthen the monitoring of arrears. Expressing dissatisfaction he suggested that the authorities should realise the dues immediately.
He also directed action against the concerned officer if no action is taken to realise the arrears.
An official in the energy division said, “The bill problem was due to some influential people. Collecting money from them has now become a big challenge. When they are pressured to pay the bill, they file a case on various pretexts. We are also emphasizing on handling these cases, so that we can state our position and explain the matter to the court.”