Nearly 8,000 out of more than 46,400 active consumers received an increase of more than 100 per cent electricity bill in January and February this year compared to the same month last year. This is as per the report conducted by the Office of Consumer Protection (OCP), the Bhutan Electricity Authority (BEA) and the Economic Affairs Ministry. The offices carried out an in-depth analysis regarding high electricity bills.
In order to validate the energy consumption, a field visit was made to the premises of 36 complainants across Thimphu. The findings indicated that the estimated energy consumption was similar to the revised bill issued by Bhutan Power Corporation (BPC) for February 2021.
“The estimated billing for the nationwide lockdown 1 had a cascading effect in the energy consumption billing. Therefore, to build the confidence of the public, BPC had been asked to review the standard operating procedures of the metering and billing. And also to use the digital meter wherever possible to automatically download and record the energy reading every month without the need for the human interventions,” said Nima Tshering C, the Director of BEA.
As per the report, there were certain lapses in the average billing system and the billing cycle. The billing cycle is the length of time in a month between the last statement of the closing date and the next.
“The average billing method has led to some subsidies being lost. The OCP has directed BPC to refund all the subsidies lost incurred by the consumer or adjust during the subsequent months,” said Jigme Dorji, the Chief Program Officer of OCP.
Although the report says the issue was resolved with the normalisation of the bills, many consumers expressed dissatisfaction with the higher bills charged for February 2021.
“I don’t see the need of the average billing system if they just bill us on the actual meter reading,” said Karma Tshering, a resident of Thimphu.
“Our shops were closed for almost a month but still we received an electricity bill. I didn’t see any change in my bills even after they normalised it after the lockdown,” said Chimi Wangmo, another resident.
“After the lockdown, we were billed almost Nu 15,000 to 16,000. I am working in a private firm and my salary is only Nu 12,000,” said Leki, a private employee.
According to the data provided by BPC, there were around 43,000 customers in the months of January and February 2020, generating almost Nu 29 M and Nu 28 M respectively.
Whereas, there were over 46,000 customers in January and February 2021, generating Nu 23 M and Nu 34 M respectively.
There is a difference of Nu 11 M in the months of January and February 2021 although the number of customers was the same. This could be attributed to the implementation of the Average Billing System by the BPC during the lockdown.
Similarly, the data also reveals that there is an increase of Nu 6 M in February 2021 compared to the same month of the year 2020. Whereas, January 2021 recorded a decrease of almost Nu 6 M in comparison to the previous year despite more clients in 2021.
As per the report, BPC has been directed to reassess the block tariff application and provide the forgone subsidy benefits to all affected consumers across the country for lockdown 1.0, waive the late payment penalties, and facilitate part payment till June 2021.
Yeshi Dorji
