The Maharashtra government, led by Uddhav Thackeray has decided to bear the additional charges in the electricity bills during the coronavirus-induced lockdown period.
This move is set to bring relief to several power consumers who have been registering complaints of exorbitant bills in the past. The state government is also said to address complaints of high power bills of prominent personalities, industrialists and celebrities in the state.
According to sources, the proposal discussed in the cabinet stated that all eligible households will be liable to pay for the units consumed in the corresponding month in 2019. For cases where the billed units for April, May and June this year exceed the corresponding usage by 100 units or less, the government has proposed to bear the entire cost of the surplus consumption.
As per estimates, more than 1.14 crore households, which make up for 90 per cent of residential consumers in Maharashtra will benefit from the decision. The populist move, however, is likely to cost the state exchequer ₹1,071 crores.
In the past, several consumers, from middle-class citizens to Bollywood celebrities, of Tata Power, Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking, and the State-run Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited (MSEDCL), had demanded an answer for the hike in power bills.
In some cases, the bills were for more than ₹10,000. The city of Mumbai has nearly 32 lakh residential power consumers and around eight lakh commercial consumers.
Share
Tweet
