Lockdown: Bhosari businessman gets Rs 8 crore electricity bill for May

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Bhosari, June 22, 2020: Another example of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) mismanagement has come to light. The company has sent a monthly electricity bill of Rs 8 crore to a small scale entrepreneur in Bhosari, even though everything was closed due to lockdown. However, after the small scale industries association warned of agitation, MSEDCL admitted the mistake and issued an amended bill.

M/s Sai Profile in Bhosari gets an electricity bill of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per month. However, for May 2020, the company was billed Rs 8 crore 5 lakh by MSEDCL. The companies were closed due to the lockdown. Still, Rs 8 crore bill was sent. Convinced that there was no reason for such a bill, owner of the industrial unit Babu rushed to the small scale indsutries association. Sandeep Belsare, president of the association, contacted senior officials of MSEDCL. Taking an aggressive stance, the organization also signaled agitation. The bill was then re-examined. Finally, MSEDCL took precaution not to allow the case to escalate by giving an amended bill of Rs 84,950.

Belsare said that MSEDCL does not assess the bill by looking at the actual electricity meter. This leads to such serious mistakes. MSEDCL should improve its management in the future, otherwise there will be intense agitation by the organization.

Rahul Gaware, Executive Engineer, MSEDCL, Bhosari, said that the department has been asked to respond to the unrealistic bill sent to the company. Meter readings were closed for three months. There was a mistake while taking new readings. A revised bill was sent when the error was noticed.”

Clarifying on the issue, MSEDCL issued a statement, “Only printed electricity bill of Rs 8 crore 58 lakh 985 was sent to MSEDCL customer M/s Sai Profile in Bhosari, erroneously. The bill was found to be faulty from an internal computer system. It was also rectified and uploaded on the MSEDCL website. However, the customer received wrong electricity bill as the faulty bill before the amendment was printed incorrectly.

The electricity bill was re-examined and a revised new bill of Rs 85,850 (if paid after June 29) was prepared. This bill has been uploaded on the MSEDCL website for the relevant customer number. However, in the file of electricity bill sent for printing, the file of the old faulty electricity bill of this customer was sent inadvertently and the bill was printed and a copy was given to the concerned customer. However, after noticing error, the concerned customer has been informed about this wrong electricity bill. He has been given revised electricity bill.”