Amid the rising electricity bills in Mumbai and opposition’s yawp, city’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Ashish Shelar on Monday sought Maharashtra Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule to rectify the issue, followed by an enquiry initiated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the complaints of hiked electricity bills.
Shelar issued a statement saying that the energy minister will communicate with MERC in order to resolve the issue. “I have come across the hike in the city’s electricity bills which were issued without meter reading. This is unacceptable,” Shelar said.
Energy secretary Arvind Singh was asked to carry out an Audit of the bills issued by Adani Electricity Mumbai Limited (AEML) and find out if they were issued on the basis of average consumption. Shelar asserted that MERC should take steps to resolve the issue.
Earlier, Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam had informed that the hike in electricity bills happened after Adani Transmission took over the city’s power distribution business from Reliance Infrastructure.
In its defence, AEML denied the allegations and said that the hike in rates is in accordance to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC).
Also Read - AEML To Set Up Helpline Centres After Complaints Of Inflated Electricity Bills
However, Nirupam rubbished the probe ordered by CM Fadnavis and alleged a nexus between MERC and AEML, demanding a judicial probe into the matter. Nirupam said that if the state government orders an enquiry on MERC, they will discover that most decisions are taken favouring the power producers and not consumers.
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