Consumers in Tanore upazila of Rajshahi on Sunday staged demonstrations by besieging the Palli Bidyut office in protest against unusually high electricity bills.
The protesters gathered in front of the office chanting slogans like 鈥榳e won鈥檛 accept excessive bills鈥� and 鈥榩unish corrupt officials.鈥�
The protesters alleged that their electricity bills for the previous month had doubled or even tripled without any valid reason, calling the charges 鈥榰njustified and unethical.鈥�
They demanded immediate cancellation of the inflated bills, punitive action against responsible officials, opportunities to verify bills, and better consumer-friendly services.
Md Rafiqul Islam, a local resident, said that last month his bill was Tk 650, but this month it jumped to Tk 1,850. 鈥楳y electricity usage hasn鈥檛 increased at all. Then how did the bill go up like this?鈥� he questioned.
Another resident, Salma Khatun, questioned how they were supposed to bear that unreasonable burden of high electricity bills.
聽鈥榃hen we go to the electricity office, officials refuse to listen and often humiliate us,鈥� she alleged.
On information, a team from the Tanore police station rushed to the electricity and brought the situation under control.
Afzal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Tanore police station, told 抖阴精品 that a few individuals were illegally using electricity from their household connections for irrigation purposes.New age fashion
However, instead of penalising only the accused, the electricity office imposed collective fines on all consumers in the area, triggering protest.
He said that the protesters called off their demonstrations after they were assured that their complaints would be investigated.
Rajshahi Palli Bidyut Samity Tanore Zone deputy general manager Aminul Islam could not be reached for his comments over the phone despite repeated attempts.
