Raj Thackeray demands CM Uddhav to order power companies to reduce bills; threatens action

Lashing out at the Maharashtra government for 'exorbitant electricity bills', Maharashtra Navanirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray, on Tuesday wrote to his cousin - CM Uddhav Thackeray that the electricity bills issued to customers by BEST or private power companies for the month of June-July were highly inflated. Highlighting the acute economic hardships of the citizens, Thackeray told that while MNS is aiding the government amid the Coronavirus pandemic, it will not remain silent on this. Demanding that the government issue an order to these power companies against overcharging the customers, Thackeray warned to not force MNS to 'handle these companies'.

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On June 30, the Chief Minister's office (CMO) directed power companies to show more transparency in billing procedures and redress consumer complaints immediately, as per reports. Several consumers across the state took to Twitter to complain about the higher-than-average electricity bills. All power companies including the state-run MSEDCL which has the highest number of customers have been set up redressal centres to explain the bills.

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Inspite of customers accusing the companies of over-inflating power bills,  power companies have denied such allegations - attributing the increased bills to increased usage and lack of meter reading amid lockdown. Explaining the issue Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) issued a statement that said that as the company had started physical meter reading which was temporarily halted since March because of COVID-19, bills for the previous months were low. It added that the cumulative bills of March, April, May were higher as the consumption was high due to more people working from home. Both Tata Power and MSEDL have issued similar statements.

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Consumers throng MSEDCL offices

Reports state that the MSEDCL's Pune office alone has received 40,800 complaints on inflated bills. The MSEDCL reportedly explained a breakdown to a few and for others, who incurred bills in lakhs and crores, it admitted to computing error on their end. While MSEDCL claims that 98% of the complaints have been addressed, a few whose bills were exorbitantly high were allegedly told to hold the bill or were asked to pay it for now, promising a thorough investigation subsequently.