'What are these...?': Huma Qureshi receives Rs 50,000 power bill, Arshad Warsi reacts

After Taapsee Pannu, Renuka Shahane, actor Huma Qureshi and director Bijoy Nambiar are among several people from Bollywood to express concerns over unexpected rise in ir electricity bills during lockdown. Qureshi said she was puzzled that her bill jumped to Rs 50,000 when it was Rs 6,000 last month. 

"What are se new electricity rates? @Adani_Elec_Mum Last month I paid 6k .. and this month 50K?!  What is this new price surge? Kindly enlighten us," Huma wrote. Reacting to Huma's tweet, actor Arshad Warsi said, "This is averaging bill amount which is highway robbery. Considering situation we should be paying exact bill amount that we paid last year during same months." [sic]

Nambiar said he was frustrated with inflated bill which he received for current month. "I am just joining bandwagon to vent my frustration against @Adani_Elec_Mum. Without a single new appliance being bought & barely using air conditioning  - my bill for this month has tripled!" "David" director tweeted. 

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Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan said it's "ridiculous" that despite so many complaints, Adani Electricity hadn't issued even a "correction." "So many people talking about absolutely ridiculous electricity bill inflation by @Adani_Elec_Mum! And yet correction or apology! Meter reading can't be an excuse for this broad daylight robbery at a time when most people don't have sources of income! Horrible," "Masaan" director wrote.

Power Company's explanation

When contacted, a spokesperson from AEML said team has re-started physical meter reading which was halted in March because of COVID-19. "Bills were generated on lower side being an aver of preceding three months, that is December, January and February, which are winter months. Actual consumption in months of April, May and June is comparatively higher due to seasonal impact (summer) and increased us (advent of Lockdown/WfH)," statement read. 

AEML said consumers will w start receiving bills based on ir  consumption with "appropriate tariff slab benefits." " bill amount for past period shall be accounted as per Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) guidelines," statement added.

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(with PTI inputs)