As electricity bills get disbursed during the first week of June, with bill collectors visiting homes after the lockdown relaxation, some consumers in Telangana are raising concerns about higher bills and difficulty in payment due to lockdown impacting their incomes.

Some leaders from the Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI) wanted the government to provide relief to consumers as they were affected without any income.

State Power Minister, G Jagadish Reddy, said that the energy bills were served after factoring consumption of power for three months during March, April and May, and was higher due to higher consumption but were not inflated.

While stating there was transparency in the billing process and everything was automated, he assured if there are instances of discrepancies, they would be looked into.

Typically, when the power consumption goes up beyond certain units, the entire bill is calculated based on higher tariff levels. This is also raising concerns with consumers.

The Telangana Electricity Regulatory Commission, in its order, had stated that the billing for months of March and April in 2020 will be based on the previous year’s consumption in the same months. Accordingly, many consumers paid the bills. However, consumers who had returned to their native homes during the lockdown are feeling the pinch.

The Power Minister stated that consumers can pay the bill generated in May in three installments. However, it will attract 1.5 per cent interest as per the order. The compunded bill will be even more difficult to calculate themonthwise consumption for March and April.

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