‘Inflated’ power bills irk consumers again

The discom, which had told its domestic consumers to self-assess the consumption to avoid controversy over the previous assessment billing, failed to publicise it.

“I am a resident of North Chennai and out of India since March. Despite no electricity consumption during April and May 2021, I got a bill for Rs 5,344 based on last year consumption. Will Tangedco provide any solution for such cases?” tweeted Ravikumar, a consumer.

Vritti Shah, a resident of Vepery, also had a similar complaint. “We have been out of the city for almost two months. But we’ve still got a bill of around Rs 3,700. Request you to check and rectify the bill asap,” she tweeted tagging Chief Minister MK Stalin.

People living in the rented houses and those who had shifted in the last year complained that previous assessment billing was much higher than their normal charges. SPB Krishnan, a resident of Chennai, lamented that the last two bill amounts were below Rs 600. However, the current bill was wrongly calculated to Rs 8,182. “We had shifted to this house in April last year and the bill was really a shocker,” he wrote.

R Saravanan, a resident of Kolathur, said that after he got an inflated bill, he submitted the meter reading along with a photo to the local EB office. The claim was accepted and the revised amount was deducted accordingly within a day.

A senior Tangedco official said that if consumers felt that the previous assessment bill (May/June 2019) did not reflect their consumption pattern, they could note down their energy meter reading with a photo and forward the same to their respective assistant engineer. The bill as per the meter reading would be updated in a day or two. “Last year, we did not allow the domestic consumer to self-assess their electricity consumption. This year, we did following the last year’s experience and to avoid unnecessary controversies,” he added.