Concern over inflated power bills

Pargi:  On account of faulty electric meter reading by electricity department personnel, consumers are getting inflated electric bills, it is alleged. When questioned, the electricity department officials, taking advantage of summer, are putting the blame on the consumer stating that the consumers might have consumed power because of summer, according to a consumer’s bitter experience with officials. 

In fact, electricity department personnel are supposed to take meter reading between first and fifth of every month. Complaint against them is that they are never prompt on taking the readings. Instead of taking reading for 30 days, they are accused of taking the reading for 40 days and serving an inflated power bill to consumers. This is putting an additional burden on the common man, it is lamented.  

The tariff per unit is Rs 2.60 for those who consumer power between 50 and 100 units. If the consumption is between 100 and 200 units, the tariff is Rs 4.30 a unit. 
Middle classes carefully watch their power consumption and manage to put it between 70 and 90 units. However, their meter reading goes up to 100 to 150 units as the meter reading personnel are ‘not prompt’ in noting the reading. Instead, they are blamed for taking the reading for 40 days.
 
As a result, a middle class family which is supposed to get Rs 160 as the power bill is getting a rather inflated bill of Rs 400. A middle class person Gopal received an inflated power bill of Rs 482 for 40 days instead of getting a power bill ranging between Rs 160 and Rs 180 for 30 days. He said that he should have utmost got a power bill of Rs 200 had the electricity authorities promptly taken the meter reading. 

When the victim approached Parigi AE Ramchandraiah seeking justice, the official is said to have commented that the consumer might have used excess power on account of summer. He allegedly turned the consumer away without lending a patient ear to him. Consumers say that it was the high-time the electricity department officials responded to the people’s queries and take remedial measures.

BY Mohammad Wajid