In the power sector, “system loss” has long served as a convenient euphemism for institutionalized waste and outright theft. From the power plant to the consumer’s meter, electricity is quietly siphoned off under the guise of technical faults. Despite repeated discussions on curbing illegal connections, meter tampering, and billing fraud, tangible action remains elusive.

The Staggering Cost of Inaction

Recently, Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud addressed the urgency of the issue, stating that the government is taking active steps to reduce these losses to stabilize electricity tariffs. Currently, transmission and distribution losses hover around 10 percent.

The financial toll is massive: an estimated Tk 6,500 crore is drained from the economy annually due to system loss. According to the minister, every 1 percent of system loss costs the power sector approximately Tk 50 lakh. When meters are bypassed or unread, the true volume of supplied power becomes impossible to track, creating a fertile ground for corruption.

Honest Consumers Foot the Bill

While system losses in developed nations are strictly contained between 2 and 5 percent, Bangladesh grapples with a deficit of 10.13 percent. To cover this massive shortfall, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) repeatedly resorts to the only available mechanism: hiking tariffs under the pretext of “coordination.”

Rather than taking accurate meter readings, officials often rely on arbitrary averages to hide the stolen electricity. The deficit is then pushed onto honest consumers through inflated or “ghost” bills. Complaints are filed, but remedies are virtually non-existent.

The True Culprits: Industries and Syndicates

Ordinary households are not orchestrating theft on this scale. The primary beneficiaries are large-scale spinning, dyeing, and re-rolling mills, alongside thousands of politically backed garages charging battery-run rickshaws. These operations are frequently facilitated by skilled engineers and linemen from the distribution companies themselves, who expertly bypass lines and tamper with meters.

The street-level theft is equally organized. Across the footpaths of the Dhaka North and South City Corporations, roughly 500,000 illegal electric lights illuminate about 350,000 makeshift stalls. At an average illicit fee of Tk 30 per light, this generates a shadow revenue of Tk 1.5 crore daily—amounting to a staggering Tk 540 crore annually. This money completely bypasses the state treasury, lining the pockets of local brokers and corrupt distribution employees.

A Legacy of Institutional Failure

The history of power distribution in Dhaka is a cycle of rebranded failures:

  • The Fall of DESA: Spun off from the Power Development Board (PDB) in 1991 to curb losses, the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA) was ultimately dissolved in 2008 amid massive corruption and unresolved financial liabilities.

  • The Current Regime (DESCO & DPDC): Its successors, DESCO and DPDC, face identical allegations today. Customers routinely report severe harassment, demands for bribes for new connections, and deliberate administrative delays. For instance, officials at DESCO’s Mirpur-Ibrahimpur division and various DPDC contractors have been repeatedly accused of financial irregularities.

The Political Shield

During the previous Awami League administration, special legislative provisions for power plant construction essentially elevated systemic irregularities into legalized plunder. While the current interim government initially sparked hope by discussing investigations into these matters, the momentum quickly stalled, leaving the avenues for theft wide open.

Energy experts highlight a stark reality: the total electricity saved by forcing nationwide daily load-shedding is actually less than the power currently being stolen through illegal connections. If authorities can genuinely rein in this systemic theft, the relentless cycle of annual tariff hikes would end, saving consumers from exploitation and securing massive lost revenue for the state.