The demand for pre-paid meters has increased at the residential customer level in Chattogram. Customers are showing more interest in prepaid meters to save money.
The tender process for the new project is yet to be completed. However, 15,000 customers have applied for prepaid meters.
For these customers, the meter will be required about 80 thousand more. After the success of the first phase, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company (KGDCL) has taken up another project in the second phase.
The project to bring 1 lakh residential prepaid meters under the second phase of the project is going on in Chattogram.
In the first phase, 60,000 residential meters have been installed in Chattogram. 17 thousand customers have come under prepaid meters in the first phase.
KGDCL said that a lot of gas is being saved due to the use of prepaid meters. Customers are also spending Tk 500-600 per month. On the other hand, non-meter has to pay Tk 1080 for two stoves. In this, the customer has to pay the bill even without using the gas.
At present, Karnaphuli Gas Company is using about 56 million cubic feet of gas per day for residential customers. As a result, if all the customers are brought under the prepaid meter, a lot of gas will be saved.
After the success of the first phase, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company (KGDCL) has taken up another project in the second phase. 1 lakh meters will be installed under this project. It will cover about 15 thousand connection meters.
The project is being implemented with KGDCL's own funding at a cost of around Tk 200 crore. It had a project tenure of up to June 2023. But the work could not be completed due to the complexity of the tender process of the project.
The tenders were called a few months back. But it was not possible to determine any contractor. As a result, the re-tender was subsequently re-tendered. The contractor has not been finalized yet.
Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited (KGDCL) is responsible for gas marketing in Chattogram with residential connections of about 5 lakh 98 thousand. Prepaid meters are being installed only at residential customer level. After the 1 lakh prepaid meter project, feasibility studies are underway for taking up
another project.
All residential customers will be brought under the prepaid meter, said the project officials.
Out-of-town residential customers will be brought under prepaid meters. The saved gas can be used in other sectors. Many places in the city have come under prepaid meters.
