No connection, but farmer gets electricity bill

ALANGAYAM: Farmer P Senthilnathan of Kottavur near Alangayam in Tirupattur district received the shock of his life when he received an SMS on his mobile from the electricity board office that he pay current consumption charges of Rs 840, sources revealed.

What is intriguing is that his application for a power connection for the borewell he sank in his 1.25 acres field has been pending with the department from last February.

When he accosted the electricity board officials they told him that the bill was generated and that he should pay up immediately.

The usual practice for EB staff is to remove the fuse carrier if a consumer defaults on payment. But this is not possible in his case as he has no power connection and hence no fuse.

Elaborating he said, “after they received my application the department sent me an SMS on April 20, 2022 demanding that I pay the deposit of Rs 13,168. I was sent a reminder for payment on May 2, 2022 stating that payment should be immediate to prevent cancellation. Finally, on December 23, 2022, I received a message stating my service connection number and that the “service will be effected soon.”

“It was after this that I received the bill dated February 23, 2023, for Rs 843 as electricity charges which had to be paid on or before March 16, this year,” he added.

“The Rs 843 happen to be the first three numbers of his service connection number which is 08433002960 and hence “this might be EB’s way of collecting the amount despite not having effected the power connection,” a source revealed.

When Senthilnathan accosted the AE regarding this, the latter asked me “What am I to do? If you cannot pay come to the office and give in writing that you do not want the connection.”

There was no reply when I asked why I should pay when even the wiring was not completed. The Alangyam EB official could not be reached for comment.