Hyderabad: Consumers shocked by inflated power bills

Hyderabad: "It is akin to rubbing salt to the wound" was what Rukmini Devi Raghavendra, a housewife and resident of Ghasmandi, said after receiving the three-month electricity bill reflecting an inflated amount. Shocked consumers complain that the online payments made for lockdown period were not reflected in the latest bills. "Isn't it a cruel joke? In spite of paying the bill amount, we get a hefty consolidated bill for three months," asks Meera Nair, a private employee.

"Every month our electricity bill is around Rs 250 to Rs 400. We have been tenants in Keshava Nagar Colony for the last three years. This month we received electricity bill for Rs 4,303 which includes amounts for the paid months also. This double billing is unacceptable. Our house rent itself is Rs 3,500 and we can't afford a bill of such high amounts," said Banu Teja, Customer Executive, Agencies.

People who used to pay Rs 700-800 per month got bills of over Rs. 10,000 this month. The bills clearly mention that the billing was done for a period of 90 days. The consumers are primarily divided in three categories, 0-100 units; 100-200 units and 200 units and above. The monthly tariff per unit is based on consumption. For instance, a person consuming 199 units per month will get a bill of about Rs. 900 at the rate of Rs. 4.3 per unit.

Therefore, the overall amount for three months should not exceed Rs. 2,700. But if units are calculated for 90 days at once, then the consumer will have to pay Rs. 5,373 for (199 x 3 = 597 units) at the rate of Rs. 9 per unit, which is more than double. Due to erroneous calculations, a majority of consumers got bills which are more than triple than the average.

"Every month when we pay the bill online, it is not reflected in the next month's bill. We have to inform them about the issue only then it is updated. We request TSSPDCL to understand the priority of online payments and kindly resoluve the technical glitches permanently," said S K Kiran, Assistant Manager, OYO, Mothi Nagar.

"Due to some technical glitches we are unable to synchronise the online bill payments instantly. We have received many complaints about receiving bills that included amounts that have been already paid. In such cases, the consumers need to visit the nearby TSSPDCL billing office and submit their online gateway details through which the consumer has paid the bill. When the USC (unique service code) of a consumer is updated with the details, then it will be rectified. We request consumers to verify their billing payments with the nearest office once the payment is done," said Rajesh, Sub-Engineer, TSPDCL.