The department of energy has launched a scheme under which entrepreneurs will be able to import pre-paid metres for gas and power. They can also establish factories to commercially sell metres.
Two government institutes have set up factories to manufacture pre-paid metres. These are run by the Waste Power Distribution Company and the Rural Power Company.
State minister for power, energy and mineral resources, Nasrul Hamid, said: “Earlier, we had allowed the private sector to manufacture pre paid metres. Now we have given similar permission for producing gas metres.”
“A user of double gas burners now pays Tk 975 per month but pre-paid users pay Tk 475.”
Of a total of 4.3 million subscribers, 300,000 use pre-paid metres. From 2005 till 2019, only 275,000 users were given pre-paid metres, which still leaves 4 million users.
To give the gas metre to the private sector, a policy has been formulated. There are 35.7 millon power users while gas connections are 4.3 million. This means that metre trade involves 40 million connections.
A metre’s lifespan is ten years but it can develop problems earlier.
An official of the energy division adds: “Whoever makes a metre will have to send the product to be tested for getting a clearance certificate.”
Through metre usage, a user will be able to see how much gas or power has been used and pay accordingly.
In the power sector, there are smart pre-paid metres in the market used by the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited. The usage of power can be monitored by using mobile phones.
Executive director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), Harun ur Rashid, has said: “We have around 1.3 million users in Dhaka and, of them, around 300,000 are using pre-paid metres. Process is underway to purchase an additional 800,000 smart metres from private companies.”