← Government Watch

Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited

autonomous · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Md. Shameem Ahmed
Role
Managing Director
Annual budget
—
Staff
—
Established
1996
Legal basis
Incorporated 3 November 1996 under the Companies Act 1994 as a public limited company and subsidiary of the Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (DESA); operational activities commenced 24 September 1998 with takeover of Mirpur area distribution system from DESA; sector activities governed by the Electricity Act 1910 (as amended) and the Electricity Act 2018; licensed by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) under the BERC Act 2003

DESCO is navigating a fragile financial recovery after Tk 1,046 crore in cumulative net losses over FY23-FY24 (Tk 541 crore in FY23, Tk 505 crore in FY24), driven by disproportionate wholesale tariff hikes and foreign currency losses on Tk 2,748 crore in foreign loans. The company returned to operating profit in FY25, posting Tk 110.52 crore profit against the prior year's Tk 181.12 crore operating loss, with first-quarter FY26 net profit of Tk 58.32 crore. DESCO's tariff proposal before BERC's May 21, 2026 public hearing seeks a 15-29% retail rate increase across slabs to close a cumulative Tk 2,611 crore deficit; it also proposed withdrawing the prepaid consumer rebate. On the supply side, DESCO's Dhaka North franchise area has been protected from systematic load shedding, with rationing concentrated outside Dhaka. The smart prepaid metering rollout (POISA platform) is ongoing but behind the original 2023 completion target.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

DESCO was incorporated 3 November 1996 and became operationally active 24 September 1998 on takeover of the Mirpur distribution system from DESA; established_year set to 1996 (incorporation), not 1998 (operations). The company is listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE: DESCO) and is a public limited company majority-owned by BPDB/government. Franchise area: Dhaka North City Corporation, Purbachal, and parts of Tongi (Gazipur). Organisational structure: 16 sales and distribution divisions under 3 operational zones. The current MD is identified as Brigadier General (Retd.) Md. Shameem Ahmed, verified from a January 2024 Data & Design Lab meeting record (dndlab.org); head_since is set conservatively to 2024-01-01 pending a primary-source gazette/press announcement of the exact date -- MarketScreener lists an October 30, 2024 date for a board change but the name there is different (Brigadier General Shameem Ahmed vs. MarketScreener's listing), so the head_since date is marked partial. The chairman as of Wikipedia's November 2025 update is Md. Selim Uddin (additional secretary rank), though a MarketScreener entry lists Muhammad Rafiqul Islam; the field is left as null in entity.current_head to avoid a conflicted claim -- the chairman is a non-executive board post and does not affect head_role (Managing Director). Financial figures: FY23 net loss Tk 541 crore and FY24 net loss Tk 505 crore are from The Daily Star and TBS News verified reports. FY25 operating profit of Tk 110.52 crore vs. FY24 operating loss Tk 181.12 crore is from Observer BD. Q1 FY26 net profit Tk 58.32 crore is from TBS News. The Tk 2,611 crore cumulative deficit figure and Tk 821 crore FY26 projection are from DESCO's own tariff petition cited in The Daily Star (May 2026). BERC technical committee's 15.43% retail recommendation is from Prothom Alo and TBS. Smart prepaid portal at prepaid.desco.org.bd (POISA platform) is live and operational; original 2023 universal-meter target was not met. Load shedding posture (Dhaka North largely exempt) is from Prothom Alo reports covering the national dispatch policy in 2025-26.

Sources