The government’s Power Division feels the FY20 budget proposal of making tax identification number (TIN) mandatory electricity connection will make the process of obtaining a utility connection complicated.
In the proposed Finance Bill-2019 placed in parliament on Jun 13, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed to make e-TIN-TIN mandatory for obtaining or maintaining power connection for all types of consumers, including residential and commercial, in city corporations, cantonment board and municipalities across the country.
Previously, e-TIN was mandatory only for commercial power connections.
The proposal aims to widen the tax net in an effort to prop up the revenue collection, but the power division finds it ‘unreasonable’.
“The Finance Division will be requested to rescind the proposal and a letter will be forwarded on Monday (Jun 24) over the matter,” said a senior Power Division official, asking not to be named.
Dhaka Power Distribution Company (Desco) top official Md Shahid Sarwar says that the provision will only make the process of getting a new connection “further complicated”.
“In the case of residential connections, a landlord or tenant may not have TIN. Moreover, a new connection requires quite a lot of documents and it will further complicate the process for a client,” said the Desco managing director.
According to him, the new provision will create a major problem for the low-income group to get power connections.
For a residential connection, a consumer has to submit copies of national id or passport, deed of land, fire service clearance in case of over a 10-storey building, construction clearance from authorities in case of city corporations or municipalities.
For commercial and industrial connections, clearances from the environment department and fire service are required along with the above-mentioned documents.
State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid also called for reconsidering the proposal.
“It will be tough for consumers, especially in rural areas, to obtain TIN for power connection,” he said in parliament on Sunday (Jun 23).