Residents complain about “Barki Tojik”

Tajik psychologist Maryam Davlatova wrote on Facebook on September 11 that the energy company “Barki Tojik” overcharged her for electricity.

According to her, her family usually spends about 150 somoni (14 dollars) on electricity per month. However, recently the city’s electric networks sent her a bill for 777.74 somoni (73 dollars) for two months. “This is almost 150% more than the actual amount,” she writes.

Maryam Davlatova complains that the sales department of “Barki Tojik” does not even have a phone number to call and clarify the situation.

“The press secretary of the energy company ‘Barki Tojik’, Kurbon Akhmadzoda, called me and informed me that this issue falls under the competence of the ‘Distribution Electric Networks’ company,” she wrote a little later.

However, it seems that Davlatova’s issue has not yet been resolved, as she wrote that “currently our spontaneous investigations are ongoing.”

After Maryam Davlatova’s complaint, the press secretary of the energy company “Barki Tojik”, Kurbon Akhmadzoda, published an announcement on his Facebook page, which apparently was addressed to Davlatova.

“If you have any problems, including with the transmission, distribution, and payment of electricity (including disconnection and reconnection), you can contact the hotline numbers of the OJSC ‘Distribution Electric Networks’,” wrote Kurbon Akhmadzoda.

The press secretary of “Barki Tojik” emphasized that “these issues do not fall under the competence of OJSC ‘Barki Tojik’, as they are the responsibility of OJSC ‘Distribution Electric Networks’.”

Earlier, the Ministry of Energy reported that the debt of the population of Tajikistan for electricity exceeds 1.5 billion somoni (140 million dollars). However, residents claim that if the population does not pay their electricity bills on time, the authorities will disconnect the electricity, therefore everyone pays their bills on time.

Almost four years ago, on January 1, 2021, the former director of “Barki Tojik”, Mirzo Ismoilzoda, stated that the population owed about 1.5 billion somoni for electricity.

Critics note that the fact that this figure has not changed in almost four years raises doubts about the data from the Ministry of Energy. In the past, journalists have also viewed this data from the ministry skeptically.