No foul play in 2-month power bill, says Bescom MD
Rajesh Gowda insists there is no error, points to more power consumption by people during lockdown period
BENGALURU:
Those who feel that Bescom has sent them a shocker in their combined electricity bill for March and April and are making a hue and cry, especially on social media, should hear out the escom’s MD Rajesh Gowda. He says there are no errors, and neither has the bill been doubled or tripled, but it is for two months as most consumers had not paid their bill for March in April.
Speaking to thebengalurulive, Gowda averred that there was nothing underhand about the bill generated for March and April. “It is a systematic bill which is regularly generated by meter readers on the first week of every month. But the lockdown began in the last week of March and our readers couldn’t do the meter reading in the first week of April. Hence, the bill which consumers have got now is for two months — March and April — and there is no error in the billing statement,” he said.
Gowda said, “We have data of those who pay their bills online as they have registered their email ids and mobile numbers. For such consumers we had sent messages, while other consumers have received a two-month bill. We had considered the last three months’ bills and the average was taken, and we tried to send the details through SMS on mobiles and through e-mail, but we couldn’t as many of them had not updated their details.”
He noted, “Since everyone has been at home during the lockdown, electrical equipment usage has gone up. And the bill was for the two months and hence it looks like more, but there was no doubling or any error. Regarding those companies which claim that during the lockdown they got bills despite not functioning, there are minimal charges which are collected by escoms and that too does not have any error.”
He clarified that the lowest slab is 30 units followed by 70, 100 and above, while the current two-month bill which has been issued has slabs of 61 units, 142.33, 203.33 and 348.33, and attract the same rate of Rs 3.75, Rs 5.2, Rs 6.75 and Rs 7.8.
‘3-month average’
In an earlier clarification, Bescom said it had issued electricity bills to HT/LT and 40 HP-and-above installations based on the actual reading during the lockdown. For all other categories of consumers, the bill was issued based on the average readings of three preceding months. It clarified that it was only a one-time measure and regular billing and collection activity would resume from May. Any difference in the average bill and the actual reading would be adjusted in the subsequent month’s bill.
If the consumers still feel the bill is on the higher side, they can contact 1912, Bescom said.
Listen to video clip of Rajesh Gowda…
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