Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL), through a recently released notice, has directed all the field offices to recover the arrears or immediately cut off the power supply of the customers' account if their bill payments are pending.
Reports released earlier stated that at the end of December 2020, the state has total arrears of INR 63,740 crores, however, this has worsened the financial condition of MSEDCL. Updates reveal that if the customer does not pay the electricity bill, MSEDCL will have no choice but to cut off the power supply.
At the end of December, the state had arrears of INR 45,498 crores pending from the agricultural pump customers, INR 8,485 crores pending from commercial, domestic and industrial customers and INR 2,435 crores pending from other high profile customers.
Until March 2020, MSEDCL had decided not to cut off the power supply in the state due to arrears in the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period. However, keeping the need in mind, State Energy Minister Dr Nitin Raut had then instructed the department not to cut off the power supply of delinquent customers till the end of December.
During the interim lockdown, private power distribution companies had duly sought permission from the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission to recover the arrears.
Back in September 2020, the arrears recovery drive was launched in Mumbai and Mumbai suburbs, under which, the power supply to many customers was disrupted. However, state energy minister Dr Raut further instructed MSEDCL to permit the power supply until the end of December.
But the updates state that the payments have not been cleared yet, and has put the department in a difficult situation, owing to which it is not possible for MSEDCL to run its daily activities. Strict action and necessary measures are sought in this regard.
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