• Consumers can pay average bill of previous months 
• Difference amount to be adjusted in next month’s bill

Mysore/Mysuru: Amidst Coronavirus scare and the lockdown in place till Apr. 14, the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) , as per the directions from the Government Secretariat, has given some relief to consumers who are unable to pay their electricity bills at the different divisions of CESC.

The State Government, in its earlier order had asked Escoms (electricity supply companies) neither to penalise its customers nor go for disconnection if one fails to pay the bill. 

The relief was applicable till June. The order had stated that the entire bill would have to be paid at the end of three months. The revised power tariff, which was to be announced on Apr. 1, was also deferred. 

As per the latest circular (dated Apr. 3) from the Under Secretary to the Government of Karnataka Energy Department, N. Mangalagowri, CESC has been ordered to generate average bill of previous months (March 2020) and send the bills to consumers through email, WhatsApp or SMS with the existing database.

Pay online

Consumers are requested to pay their electricity bills as per their previous month’s average bill amount, online through debit card, credit card, internet banking, wallet payment, UPI payments, Pay U App, IMI Mobile App, Karnataka One website or app. Any difference in amount depending on actual power consumption would be adjusted when the bill collection system is streamlined. 

Bill collectors will visit only large consumers, companies and industries to hand over individual power bills. They, however, will not come to individual houses. 

Consumers can also call 1912 (24×7 Helpline) and inform the respective CESC divisions of their account IDs and mobile number for obtaining the bill copies through mail, WhatsApp or SMS and then make the payment. They can also log on to www.cescmysore.org to pay bills online.

Day-to-day income hit

Due to the lockdown, bill collectors and meter readers are unable to come to individual houses, flats and apartments and hand over bills. This has affected the liquidity position of the CESC thereby impairing its ability to pay the generating and transmission companies. 

CESC’s day-to-day expenses are maintained with everyday revenue collections from the consumers. If the payments from the consumers are delayed, it will be difficult to pay for the generators for power purchase and also become very difficult to provide uninterrupted power supply to the consumers. 

One-time measure

However, this is only a one-time measure for the current month keeping in mind COVID-19 regulations in place and for the safety of the consumers and bill collectors. The effort is avoid the bill collectors from going door-to-door to generate bills and thereby risk themselves to virus exposure. 

Bill amount to be adjusted

Consumers, through the circular, have been requested to follow this and make the payments online. The bill amount will be adjusted from next month’s bill cycle and those who cannot make online payments will have to pay a collective bill of two months in the month of May, said the circular.

Regular meter reading, billing and collection activities shall be made as before from 01.05.2020 onwards and any difference in the average bill and the actual reading may be adjusted in the following month’s bill, stated the circular.