Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday replied to a consumer of the Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) after the latter complained of an electricity bill amounting to Rs 44,000 which they received for the month of June, 2023.
Tagging the chief minister and APDCL, the complainant took to Twitter to address her grievance. She wrote, “We have received a staggering bill of Rs 44000 from @apdclsocial despite 1 KW load in June. When complain lessen to rs 21000 Consumer - 106000006052 Name-Golap Borah Area-Gohpur, dakshin kalabari Kindly take action @cmoassam @himantabiswa.”
The chief minister took cognizance of the issue in just a matter of a few hours and replied to the complainant on Twitter stating that the fault was on the meter reader’s side.
He wrote, “We have examined the matter. it was found that the meter reading is correct and done in Esuvidha. However, it is a case of accumulated readings, as the consumer was under billed by Meter reader named Sri Dilip Rajkhowa. The matter came to light that the meter reader didn’t prepare the bill on actual consumption.”
“As a result, you received an enhanced bill. My apology for inconvenience caused.”
Moreover, the complainant also referred to two more consumer numbers and highlighted the astounding bill amounts that they received - ranging from Rs 83,000 to a whopping Rs 1.27 lakh against a mere consumption of just 1 KW (kilowatt).
Earlier this month, the wife of heartthrob Zubeen Garg, Garima Saikia Garg expressed her distress on social media on rising electricity tariffs.
Taking to social media, Garima claimed to have paid a bill of Rs 10,500 last month and then she had recharged her prepaid electricity meter with Rs 2,000 in the first five days of this month.
Her post was followed by widespread reactions and people from all walks of life criticizing the APDCL.
Recently, the APDCL had hiked the monthly tariff for electricity consumption spelling trouble for consumers in the state.
The APDCL hikeed the tariffs by 30 paise to 70 paise per unit of electricity consumed. For consumers under subsidized Jeevan Dhara scheme, the hike is 30 paise per unit, while for other consumers the hike is 70 paise.
It may be noted that APDCL had released a notification in connection with the matter on May 27. According to the notification, Jeevan Dhara consumers will now have to pay Rs 4.35 per unit of electricity.
Moreover, households consuming 120 units will have to pay Rs 5.25 per unit of electricity, while those consuming between 121 and 240 units, will have to Rs 7.30 per unit, the notification mentioned.
The notification further added that those households consuming 5 to 30 kilowatts of electricity will have to pay Rs 8.15 per unit and business establishments will have to pay Rs 8.60 per unit.
