The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Inflated power bills worry Malaysian Township dwellers

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Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Inflated power bills worry Malaysian Township dwellers

Swathi. V

Complainants’ bills being rationalised, says official

Some complainants suspect the builder of indulging in large-scale power theft
Meter reading is taken by private agencies and department officials in alternate months

HYDERABAD: Employing private agencies for supplementary jobs in every department has been the method of governance for quite some time now, ostensibly to reduce bureaucratic delays and improve performance.

However, the flaws in the system became obvious in the recent issue of inflated electricity billings in the Malaysian Township at Kukatpally.

The township had quite a few residents complaining about exorbitant hike in their power bills for the months of May and June.

The anomalies were very high in a few blocks where billed amounts ranged from Rs.3,500 to Rs.6,000 each per month. “My bill for the month of June was quite high -- Rs.4,500. Despite the use of air conditioner, the bill amount prior to this would never exceed Rs.600,” said Sujatha Mehtani, an employee of Wipro and resident of the township.

Figures under-stated

Suresh. P, another resident, said he received a bill for Rs.3,600 for the month of June in place of Rs.350 he would get otherwise.

However, he saw better sense in contacting the power distribution authorities and got the bill reduced by Rs.1,000. Similar complaints were heard from many others. Some even began to suspect the builder of indulging in large scale power theft.

However, none pondered over the earlier consumption figures that were dubiously under-stated.

Most of the apartments were equipped with at least one air-conditioner which itself would have tossed the bill to over Rs.1,000. Truth came out only when a few residents approached the power distribution authorities with their bills. “The meter reading is taken by private agencies and the department officials in alternate months. The person employed by one of the agencies did not bother to go to the spot and take the meter reading. Instead, he entered an arbitrary figure of consumption which was far below the actual units. When the official took the consumption figure the following month, the gap turned out to be very high,” explained Rajaram Reddy, Divisional Engineer.

Slab system of billing, whereby the rate per unit of consumption is based on the total consumption, has further enhanced the bill amount. So far, about 50 persons have approached the distribution authorities with the complaint and each bill is being rationalised by averaging the consumption figures of two months, said Mr. Reddy.

Contract of the offending agency has been terminated and the responsible official, placed under suspension, he said. However, residents allege that the arbitrary billing is being carried out for more than two months and officials have not turned up to cross check the reading for quite some time.

Careless billing

“My consumption figures for the months of April and May hovered around 90 units, which was very less considering that I use A/C and microwave. Careless billing has been going on for quite some time till now and officials have been unduly relaxing all these months,” says a resident refusing to identify himself. Meter reading and billing have been handed over to private agencies in many parts of the city. Agencies have to be shuffled among different areas every month so as to keep check on unfair practices, sources from CPDCL said.

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