Loss means damage or deficit. And system loss refers to systematic loss, institutionalized wastage-in plain terms, theft. In the name of system loss, electricity theft takes place all along the route from power plants to consumers. It is legitimized under the cover of technical faults. Although discussions have repeatedly emerged about stopping the practice of showing illegal connections, meter tampering, and billing fraud under the category of system loss, no effective measures have yet been taken. Even if system loss cannot be completely stopped, a message about reducing it has recently come from the Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud. He stated that the government has taken several measures to reduce system loss in the power sector and keep electricity tariffs stable. If system loss can be reduced, electricity tariffs can remain stable. As information, he added that currently around 10 percent loss occurs at the transmission and distribution levels. The information that Bangladesh loses nearly Tk 6,500 crore annually due to system loss has existed for a long time. According to the minister, every one percent system loss causes around Tk 50 lakh in financial losses to the power sector. As information, this is significant enough for the electricity sector. At the same time, when electricity is supplied through reduced meter readings or meter bypasses, the actual amount of supplied electricity cannot be determined or known.
Even though there is an opportunity to take proper readings, it is not being done. Instead, meter readings from different houses are taken at different times and an average estimate is made. This creates room for manipulation in the name of system loss. This manipulation is adjusted by increasing consumers’ electricity bills. Electricity wastage exists even in developed countries, but there it is generally between 2"5 percent at most. In Bangladesh, however, it stands at 10.13 percent! To compensate for this massive theft, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission repeatedly increases electricity prices. Ordinary people are not involved in this theft. Honest consumers are paying the bills of the thieves. Nor is it possible for ordinary people to engage in such large-scale theft. The major thefts are carried out by large spinning mills, dyeing factories, and rerolling mills. Their meter tampering or bypass lines are arranged by skilled engineers and linemen from the power distribution companies themselves. Thousands of battery-powered auto-rickshaw garages that have sprung up across the country under political patronage are also operating on stolen electricity lines. There are also dealings involving thousands of crores of taka spent in the name of upgrading transmission and distribution lines. That is not merely theft; it is looting, outright plundering. And this too is done under the excuse of reducing system loss. Governments have always appeared willing to accept it. There is only one arrangement to adjust this theft in the name of system loss-repeatedly increasing electricity prices under the label of “adjustment.” The entire burden and consequences fall on consumers. Many ordinary consumers often have to pay excessive or “ghost bills.” Complaints can be made, but there is never any remedy.
This grand festival of electricity theft under the cover of system loss never seems to stop. Even though hundreds of megawatts of electricity are being stolen through illegal connections, the authorities still play an inactive role in preventing it. Meanwhile, the amount of electricity stolen through illegal footpath connections is almost half of the electricity lost in charging battery-run rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, and three-wheelers. Yet the government treasury receives only a negligible amount of revenue from this electricity. Many insiders in the relevant sector admit that most of the charging stations established across the country for battery charging have illegal connections. Electricity and energy experts say that more electricity could be saved by disconnecting all stolen electricity connections and preventing wastage than is currently being saved through one hour of load shedding nationwide every day. Although system loss has been somewhat reduced through the implementation of specific plans such as constructing substations according to demand, installing transformers, modernizing the distribution system, controlling illegal connections and theft, taking online meter readings, and installing prepaid meters, the targeted goals have not been achieved. For a long time, identified broker syndicates in local areas, in collusion with officials and employees of the power department, have been earning money by illegally installing residential and commercial electricity connections at will. The brokers even make their own ladders. They provide lines wherever and whenever they want. Occasionally they stage dramas by pretending to cut lines. Many are partners in this grand theft of electricity, gas, and water in the name of system loss. It has continued openly for years - an open secret. This grand festival of theft remains beyond accountability.
There is no information that anyone has ever been punished for this crime. Rather, to recover the losses caused by theft, extreme harassment is inflicted on consumers, effectively encouraging and protecting the thieves. Consumers also face ghost bills, bribery, and corruption to ensure further gains for the culprits. On top of that, annual increases in electricity prices indirectly provide further incentives and legitimacy to the practice of theft. This journey has been quite long. Over time, several electricity distribution companies have been formed. From the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) came the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA). Later, DESA was abolished due to extreme irregularities. Dhaka Electric Supply Company (DESCO) and Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) were then established. Yet consumers continue to face harassment at every step from these two distribution companies as well. The amount of bribes required for new connections has only continued to increase. And although losses are shown as reduced, in reality they have increased further. Alongside manipulated accounting comes bonus harassment. Statistics from the past one and a half decades show that in 2010"11 the average annual system loss in the power sector stood at 14.73 percent. By fiscal year 2020"21, it had decreased to 11.11 percent. Of this, transmission line losses accounted for 3.05 percent, which was higher than the previous year. After independence, the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) directly produced electricity. Since the 1990s, however, PDB gradually became dependent on the private sector for electricity generation. Later, to reduce system loss, DESA was established on October 1, 1991, for Dhaka’s electricity distribution system. After struggling with losses for over a decade, DESA was finally abolished in 2008. The purpose for which DESA had been formed outside the structure of PDB was not achieved. DESA faced criticism due to extreme corruption and irregularities. Subsequently, in 1998, a part of DESA covering Banani, Gulshan, Mirpur, and Uttara was turned into a new company called DESCO. And in 2008, DPDC was formed while DESA’s huge financial liabilities remained unresolved. At present, DESCO and DPDC are responsible for electricity distribution in Dhaka. Even so, system loss has not decreased; rather, irregularities and corruption have increased in both institutions.
Allegations have arisen against officials and executive engineers of DESCO’s Mirpur-Ibrahimpur sales and distribution division for demanding bribes and harassing consumers by holding back electricity connection files. In addition, allegations of bribery have also been raised against officials of another institution, DPDC. Employees of various contracting firms engaged in meter reading and line repair work for the institution have also been accused of financial irregularities. Altogether, consumers are extremely dissatisfied with the chaos in these two service sectors. Information shows that within the approximately 163-kilometer footpath area of Dhaka North and South City Corporations, covering 1,529 square kilometers, there are around 350,000 shops using nearly 500,000 illegal electric lights. At an average cost of Tk 30 per light, daily expenditure amounts to Tk 1.5 crore. Accordingly, the amount reaches Tk 45 crore per month and Tk 540 crore annually. The money from Dhaka’s footpaths and roads is ending up in the pockets of dishonest employees of the electricity distribution companies. However, the regulatory authorities do not have proper accounts of most of the electricity consumed by footpath shops. Neither DPDC nor DESCO possesses accurate information on this matter. Moreover, by taking advantage of special laws during the Awami League era, the construction of power plants turned theft into outright robbery. Discussions about investigations into these matters emerged during the tenure of the interim government. The issue heated up for a few days, but in reality nothing happened. Rather, the doors and windows of theft remain open even now. Those concerned say that even if the theft being carried out in the name of system loss cannot be completely stopped, controlling or reducing it would eliminate the need to increase electricity prices year after year. In addition, it would generate huge revenues.
Writer is a Journalist-Columnist; Deputy Head of News, Banglavision
