Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) has instructed the power distribution companies or discoms to show transparency in their billing procedures and redress the complaints raised by several consumers of hike electricity bills.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday informed that MERC has directed the power companies to address the complaints raised by citizens regarding hike bills. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) issued a statement after several citizens including celebrities raised the issue.
In Maharashtra, four power distribution companies are operational including MahaVitaran, Adani Electricity, BEST and Tata Power. Issues have been raised of receiving hike power bills, some have even said that their bill amount is more than three times their monthly average.
The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) informed that the consumers have been billed on the basis of an average consumption based on three months before March. This is based on the meter readings of the winter season when the electricity consumption is low.
It also noted that the discoms have followed the rules of “practice direction” through which the present bills have been issues on meter readings of the summer months when the consumption is usually high and the bills are in higher amounts.
“Therefore, the balance amount payable after adjusting the average bill amounts for each of the three months including March, April and May have led to a higher bill that was issued in June,” the MERC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, on the same day, Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut announced that all state-owned Mahavitaran’s consumers can pay their electricity bill for June in three instalments. The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MahaVitaran) has allowed EMI option for paying the bill.
Since the nationwide lockdown which was imposed from March 25 in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the meter readings have been suspended. However, Raut informed that the meter readings are on from June 1 in all areas except containment zones.
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