A landlord's guide to service charge and electricity bills in Dhaka flats

In a Dhaka flat, the rent is rarely the only money that changes hands each month. There's the building's service charge, electricity from DESCO or DPDC, gas from Titas, water from WASA, and often internet. Who pays which one, and how, causes more small arguments between owners and tenants than the rent itself.

This guide covers how these charges usually work, the choices you have as an owner, and a simple way to recover what a tenant owes without friction. Every building is different, and your lease is what counts. The aim here is to help you write a lease that leaves nothing to guess.

Service charge: what it pays for

Most apartment buildings in Dhaka have a flat owners' association or a building committee that collects a monthly service charge from each flat. It typically covers:

• security guards and the caretaker
• the lift, its electricity and maintenance
• the generator, its diesel and servicing
• cleaning of stairs, lobby and roof
• common-area lighting and the water pump
• sometimes the building's shared water bill

The amount is set by the committee, not by you, and it can change during the year, especially when diesel prices move.

Who pays the service charge?

There are two common arrangements, and both are fine as long as the lease says which:

1. Rent includes service charge. The tenant pays one figure, say ৳30,000, and you pay the committee. It's simple for the tenant. The risk sits with you: if the committee raises the charge mid-lease, your income falls.

2. Service charge is paid separately. The rent is ৳27,000 plus the service charge, currently ৳3,000. The tenant either pays the committee directly or pays you and you pass it on. If the charge rises, the tenant pays the new amount.

Whichever you choose, write three things into the lease: whether the charge is included, the current amount, and what happens if the committee changes it. If the tenant pays through you, give a receipt that lists the service charge as its own line, separate from the rent.

Electricity: prepaid or postpaid changes everything

Most new connections in Dhaka are on prepaid meters, while older flats may still be postpaid, billed monthly.

Prepaid meter. The simplest arrangement for a rental. The tenant tops up the meter themselves through the utility's app, bKash or a vendor, and uses what they pay for. You aren't involved in the monthly bill at all. At move-out, note the balance on the meter. Agree in advance whether any remaining credit is simply left for the next tenant, which is usual for small amounts, or settled between you.

Postpaid meter. The bill arrives in the name on the meter, usually yours, so you're responsible to the utility. The fair approach:

• the tenant pays the actual bill for their period of use, no more
• you or the tenant pays it before the due date, as agreed
• meter readings are recorded on move-in and move-out day, and both sides sign

Don't add a margin to electricity. Charging a tenant more than the actual bill is the quickest way to lose trust, and it's rarely worth the few hundred taka.

Shared meters. Some older buildings have one meter for two units, or for a flat and a rooftop room. Agree a split in writing: by sub-meter readings if there's a sub-meter, otherwise by a fixed share. Revisit it if usage changes a lot.

Gas: fixed bills and prepaid meters

Many Dhaka flats still pay a fixed monthly gas bill per burner, set by Titas regardless of how much gas is used. Newer areas and some buildings have prepaid gas meters, which work like prepaid electricity.

• With a fixed bill, agree who pays it and add it to the tenant's monthly total if you pay the utility.
• With a prepaid meter, the tenant tops it up and the matter ends there.

Either way, record the gas bill amount in the lease so there's no surprise when it arrives.

Water: usually through the building

WASA water is often billed to the building as a whole and shared through the service charge, so tenants don't see a separate water bill. Where a flat has its own water bill, treat it like postpaid electricity: the tenant pays the actual amount for their period.

Recovering bills you paid

Sometimes you pay a bill the tenant owes: electricity in your name, a gas bill paid to avoid a disconnection, a plumber for damage they caused. The clean way to recover it:

1. Keep the bill or receipt. A photo is enough.
2. Tell the tenant when you pay it, with the photo, so it isn't a surprise later.
3. Collect it with the next rent, as a separate line on the same receipt.

A receipt that lists rent and bills separately answers every future question:

Avoid collecting bills in cash "separately" without a receipt. That's where "I already paid you for the gas" comes from.

Keep bills out of your income figures

For your own accounts, bills that the tenant repays aren't really income, and bills they pay directly aren't your cost. A useful way to keep your books straight:

• Bills you pay count as your expense in the month they're for.
• Money the tenant repays you for a bill counts as other income on the day you receive it.
• Bills the tenant pays directly can be noted, but don't count them as your cost.

This way a month with a big electricity bill that the tenant repays doesn't look like a loss, and your yearly figures show what the flat actually earns.

Move-in and move-out: the readings that prevent disputes

On move-in day and move-out day, record:

• electricity meter reading and, for prepaid, the balance
• gas meter reading or balance, if metered
• the date of the last service charge paid
• photos of each meter

Both of you sign the sheet or reply "agreed" on WhatsApp. At move-out, any unpaid bill is settled from the advance or paid in cash, alongside the rent. Our guide to adjusting a tenant's advance fairly covers how that fits into the final settlement.

A lease clause you can adapt

Rent is ৳27,000 a month, excluding service charge. The service charge, currently ৳3,000 a month, is paid by the tenant to the owner with the rent and passed on to the building committee; if the committee changes it, the new amount applies from the following month. Electricity is on a prepaid meter topped up by the tenant. The fixed gas bill is paid by the owner and repaid by the tenant with the rent. Meter readings are recorded on move-in and move-out.

Adjust the amounts and arrangements to your flat, and have a lawyer check any lease you're unsure about.

How Griho helps

Griho records each bill with the month, the amount, who paid it and a photo of the bill. Bills you paid can be marked Charge to tenant. The next time you log that tenant's rent, they're offered as extra lines on the same numbered receipt. Your income figures automatically separate what you paid, what was repaid and what the tenant paid directly. See Bills and expenses, with the receipt photo.

Quick checklist

• Say in the lease whether rent includes the service charge, and what happens if it changes
• Prefer prepaid electricity and gas meters for rentals
• For postpaid, charge the actual bill, never more
• Agree splits for shared meters in writing
• Keep a photo of every bill you pay on the tenant's behalf
• Collect bills with the rent, as separate lines on one receipt
• Record meter readings on move-in and move-out day