How to read a prepaid electricity meter in Bangladesh

1. How a prepaid meter differs from a postpaid one

Prepaid (STS) meters deduct taka from a stored balance in real time as you use electricity. There is no monthly reading visit and no separate bill — the tariff slabs, demand charge, meter rent, and VAT are all baked into every deduction. What you see on the display is a running balance, not a bill total.

2. The codes you'll actually use

Type the code on the keypad and press Enter. The full code list runs to 900+ entries, but 95% of users only need these:

3. Estimating your monthly bill

Note the kWh figure from code 800 on the same day each month. Subtract last month's number from this month's — that's your monthly units. Feed that number into Power Charge to see the slab-accurate cost:

Monthly units = current code 800 − previous code 800

4. Recharging safely

Buy tokens through bKash, Nagad, Rocket, or DESCO/DPDC apps using the meter serial from code 815. Type the 20-digit token exactly, press Enter, and wait for Accept. If the meter shows Reject, the token was already used or entered against the wrong meter.

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