Humiliation instead of redress

Abu Bakar was worried as his electricity bill had far more units than the actual reading the meter at his residence showed.

So the resident of New Mooring area in Chittagong city went to a local office of the Power Development Board (PDB) last month to inquire about the extra charge.

The officials there suggested him to contact the meter reader in his area -- Mohammed Omar.

As Bakar failed to find him at the office, he collected Omar's phone number and contacted him regarding the issue.

“I told him that there were 345 extra units in my bill. I wanted to know the reason and a solution to the issue,” he said.

But the answer he received was completely unexpected as well as disconcerting. “Omar told me to jump off the roof of a high-rise and said that would be the solution.”

Bakar was venting his frustration at a hearing on resisting corruption yesterday. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and Corruption Resistance Committee, Chittagong organised the hearing at the head office of Chittagong PDB in the port city's Agrabad area.

“It felt humiliating and offensive when he asked me to commit suicide rather than addressing the problem,” he said.

Like Bakar, 38 people lodged complaints on extra billing.

Abul Bashar, a resident of Agrabad area, said he lodged complaints with a local PDB office over being charged extra but did not get any solution.

Sirajul Islam, a resident of Kalurghat area, said there are differences of at least 1,000 units in his bill and in the meter. “The units accumulate over the years through extra-billing…,” he said.

“I contacted the local PDB office several times regarding the issue but to no avail.”

ACC Commissioner Dr Nasir Uddin Ahmed asked the PDB chief engineer to investigate the complaints of extra billing and address those.

“How can a meter reader ask a client to commit suicide!” he said. He asked the PDB chief engineer to look into the issue and take necessary steps.

Contacted, PDB Chief Engineer Prabir Kumar Sen said Omar was not a permanent staff. “He was appointed on an ad-hoc basis.”

“We have taken the allegation into account very seriously and would take punitive actions if it is found to be true,” he said.