Bangladesh, Sept. 5 -- A wave of abnormally high, and in some cases inexplicable, electricity bills has left ordinary consumers across the country reeling, triggering a storm of criticism on social media even as the country continues to grapple with heavy load-shedding.

Both post-paid and prepaid customers say their bills have nearly doubled or, in some cases, tripled compared with previous months - a surge that has come to be known online as the "bhuturey bill," or ghost bill, crisis.

On Facebook and X, consumers have been posting side-by-side comparisons of their bills, describing sharp, unexplained jumps. Some say a bill that used to run around 800 taka has shot up to 1,800 taka.

Others report bills exceeding a thousand taka for ho...